power outage
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power outage
An unexpected interruption in the supply of electrical energy in a particular area, causing electrical devices to stop working.
Während des Gewitters gab es in der ganzen Stadt einen mehrstündigen Stromausfall.
During the thunderstorm, there was a power outage lasting several hours throughout the whole city.
'Stromausfall' (power outage) is a compound noun made up of 'der Strom' (electricity/power) and 'der Ausfall' (failure/outage). The 's' in between is a linking s that connects the two words. Literally, it means that the power fails.
Ein Stromausfall im Winter ist besonders unangenehm.
A power outage in winter is especially unpleasant.
The noun 'der Ausfall' (failure/outage) comes from the separable verb 'ausfallen' (to fail, to be canceled). So you can also say: 'Der Strom ist ausgefallen.' (The power has gone out.) This wording is very common in everyday speech.
Plötzlich ist im ganzen Haus der Strom ausgefallen.
Suddenly, the power went out in the whole house.
To talk about a power outage, people very often use the impersonal expression 'es gibt einen Stromausfall' (there is a power outage) or the formulation 'einen Stromausfall haben' (to have a power outage).
Gestern Abend gab es bei uns einen kurzen Stromausfall.
Yesterday evening, we had a short power outage.
failure / outage
'der Ausfall' and 'der Stromausfall' both describe something suddenly no longer working. 'der Ausfall' is the more general word. It can refer to technology, a system, or even a person who is absent due to illness. 'der Stromausfall' is a specific kind of outage: there is no electrical power anymore. The words can be confused because a power outage is also a kind of 'Ausfall'. If you mean only the power supply, 'Stromausfall' is more precise. If the type of problem is left open, 'Ausfall' fits better.
Nach dem Stromausfall blieben im ganzen Haus die Lampen aus.
After the power outage, the lights stayed off throughout the house.
Am Morgen führte ein Ausfall des Servers zu langen Wartezeiten.
In the morning, a server outage led to long waiting times.