Meaning & use
breakout session
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Meaning
nouncountablebusiness
A smaller meeting held during a larger event, where a subset of attendees focus on one topic or task.
Grammar: Usually plural in schedules: attend two breakout sessions.
Patterns
- lead a breakout session
- join a breakout session on something
After the keynote, we split into breakout sessions by department.
I led a breakout session on customer feedback.
The conference offers six breakout sessions each afternoon.
Word forms
| plural | breakout sessions |
|---|
Common combinations
- attend a breakout session
- I attended a breakout session on budgeting.
- lead a breakout session
- She led a breakout session for new teachers.
- join a breakout session
- Join a breakout session that matches your role.
- a breakout session on
- There is a breakout session on data privacy.
- online breakout session
- The webinar had an online breakout session for questions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- workshop
- It stresses hands-on activity and can stand alone, whereas a breakout session is defined by being part of a bigger event.
- seminar
- It suggests a more formal talk or discussion and is not necessarily split off from a larger meeting.
- small-group discussion
- It describes the format plainly, without implying a conference schedule.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: breakout session or plenary session?
breakout session vs plenary session
A plenary session is attended by everyone, while a breakout session is for a smaller group.
Practice
At the conference, the speaker gave a keynote and then attendees joined a ___ to discuss one topic in a small group.
Choose one answer.
A breakout session is a smaller meeting inside a larger event. A plenary session would include everyone, so it does not match small-group discussion.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “breakout session”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.