break out of
phr. v..phr. v.. to escape from a place where you are kept, like a prison or a cage.
phr. v.. to escape from confinement or a restrictive situation; often used with a physical location or a metaphorical state as the object.
The lion tried to break out of its cage.
Three prisoners managed to break out of the high-security facility during the storm last night.
The young artist struggled for years to break out of the traditional styles imposed by her mentors to find her own voice.
- Particles
- out of
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- break + out + of + object
always followed by an object representing the place or situation of confinement.
contrast with 'break out' (intransitive, used for fires or wars starting) to show how the preposition 'of' changes the meaning to escape.
He broke out the prison.He broke out of the prison.the preposition 'of' is required to connect the action to the place being escaped from.