Outage
/ˈaʊtɪdʒ/
Definitions
A period during which a service, such as electricity, water, or internet, is not available.
/ˈaʊtɪdʒ/
A period when a service or utility is unavailable.
The entire city was affected by a sudden power outage.
💡 Simply: Imagine your TV suddenly going dark during your favorite show! An outage is when something you rely on, like electricity or the internet, stops working for a while. It’s like a temporary break in the system.
👶 For kids: When something that's supposed to work, like the lights or the internet, stops working for a little while.
More Examples
Due to a storm, the phone service experienced an outage.
The website's scheduled maintenance caused a brief outage.
How It's Used
"The internet service suffered an outage last night."
"A power outage left the city in darkness."
"The company experienced a system outage which affected sales."
From the late 19th century, combining 'out' (referring to cessation) and '-age' (indicating a state or result).
The word 'outage' became more prevalent with the increasing reliance on technology and utilities in the 20th century.
Memory tip
Think of a power 'out' combined with the 'age' of the disruption.