A breakout is when
prices
A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the c ...
pass through and stay through an area of
support or
resistance. On the technical analysis chart a ''break out'' occurs when price of a stock or commodity exits an area pattern. Oftentimes, a stock or commodity will bounce between the areas of
support and
resistance and when it breaks through either one of these barriers you can consider the direction that it's heading in a trend. Often the resistance level the price breaks through becomes a new support level, and vice versa. This can be a "Buy" or "Sell" signal depending on which barrier it broke through.
References
Breakout with volume
Technical analysis
{{Econ-stub