outage

out·age
O1U1T1A1G2E1
UK/ˈaʊ.tɪd͡ʒ/US[ˈaʊ.ɾɪd͡ʒ]US/ˈaʊ.təd͡ʒ/Australia/ˈæɔ.tɪd͡ʒ/

noun

A temporary suspension of operation, especially of electrical power supply.

Less commonScrabble 7

Meanings

nounoutage (plural outages)

plural outages

  1. A temporary suspension of operation, especially of electrical power supply.

    Along with the planned de-energizations, PG&E customers are also dealing with a number of unplanned power outages – like in Davis, where about 2,700 customers are in the dark, and El Dorado Hills, where more than 5,100 customers are impacted.

    2026 May 17, Cecilio Padilla, “PG&E planned outages start in Northern California over fire danger”, in CBS News, archived from the original on 18 May 2026
    1 more example

    [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.

    2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2023

    Synonyms: blackout, power cut

  2. The amount of something lost in storage or transportation.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA temporary suspension of operation, especially of electrical power supply.

Origin

Translations

Bulgarian престой, утечка
  • престой (prestoj)suspension of operation
  • утечка (utečka)amount lost in storage or transportation
Catalan pana, apagada
  • panasuspension of operation
  • apagadasuspension of operation
Czech prostoj, výpadek (of elektricity)
  • prostojsuspension of operation
  • výpadek (of elektricity)suspension of operation
  • poruchasuspension of operation
Dutch panne
  • pannesuspension of operation
Finnish katkos
  • katkossuspension of operation
French panne, interruption
  • pannesuspension of operation
  • interruptionsuspension of operation
  • perte de marchandiseamount lost in storage or transportation
German Ausfall, Stromausfall
  • Ausfallsuspension of operation
  • Stromausfallsuspension of operation
Italian black-out, disservizio
  • black-outsuspension of operation
  • disserviziosuspension of operation
  • interruzionesuspension of operation
Lithuanian prastova, gedimas
  • prastovasuspension of operation
  • gedimassuspension of operation
  • nubyrėjimasamount lost in storage or transportation
  • nutekėjimasamount lost in storage or transportation
  • nuotekisamount lost in storage or transportation
Polish awaria, przestój
  • awariasuspension of operation
  • przestójsuspension of operation
  • strataamount lost in storage or transportation
Russian ава́рия
  • ава́рия (avárija)suspension of operation
Spanish apagón, corte
  • apagónsuspension of operation
  • cortesuspension of operation
  • interrupciónsuspension of operation
  • desconexiónsuspension of operation
Turkish kesinti
  • kesintisuspension of operation
Vietnamese mất điện, cúp điện
  • mất điệnsuspension of operation
  • cúp điệnsuspension of operation
Cite this entry
APA

outage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outage

MLA

“outage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outage. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outage,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outage.

Source: outage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.