runaway / outlier
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runaway
A person, usually a child or teenager, who has secretly run away from home or from an institution.
Die Polizei konnte den 15-jährigen Ausreißer am Bahnhof aufgreifen und zu seinen Eltern zurückbringen.
The police were able to pick up the 15-year-old runaway at the train station and bring him back to his parents.
The word is derived from the separable verb 'ausreißen', which means 'to run away' or 'to tear out'. The ending '-er' refers to the person or thing that performs this action.
Der Hund ist ein echter Ausreißer und läuft ständig weg.
The dog is a real runaway and is constantly running off.
The many meanings can be distinguished well by context. If it is about family or the police, it means a person who has run away. In a sports context (e.g. cycling), it is an athlete. With data and statistics, it means a value that deviates from the others.
Die beiden Ausreißer hatten einen Vorsprung von zwei Minuten.
The two breakaways had a lead of two minutes.
When a person is meant, 'Ausreißer' is often used in connection with children or teenagers. Typical verbs are 'aufgreifen' (to pick up/apprehend), 'suchen' (to search for), or 'zurückbringen' (to bring back).
Die Polizei sucht nach einem 14-jährigen Ausreißer aus Berlin.
The police are looking for a 14-year-old runaway from Berlin.
In sports, especially cycling, an 'Ausreißer' is a rider who has broken away from the main field. Typical verbs in this context are 'eingeholt werden' (to be caught), 'sich absetzen' (to break away), or 'einen Vorsprung herausfahren' (to build up a lead).
Kurz vor dem Ziel wurde die Gruppe der Ausreißer vom Feld eingeholt.
Shortly before the finish, the group of breakaways was caught by the field.
In statistics and data analysis, 'Ausreißer' is a technical term for a data point that does not fit the rest of the data. It is often used as a synonym for the English term 'outlier'.
Ein einziger Ausreißer kann den Mittelwert stark beeinflussen.
A single outlier can strongly influence the mean.
exception
'die Ausnahme' and 'der Ausreißer' can both mean something that does not fit the normal pattern. 'Ausnahme' is more general: a single case does not follow the rule or expectation. 'Ausreißer' is used especially with numbers, data, or developments when a value or event differs greatly from the others. For this reason, the words can be confused. When it is about an everyday rule, 'Ausnahme' fits better. When a single value or result is clearly different from the rest, 'Ausreißer' fits better.
In der Tabelle ist ein Wert viel höher als alle anderen und gilt als Ausreißer.
In the table, one value is much higher than all the others and is considered an outlier.
Wegen der langen Reise bekommt sie morgen eine Ausnahme bei der Abgabefrist.
Because of the long trip, she is getting an exception to the submission deadline tomorrow.