Question from a book
This is an excerpt from the book I'm reading

We still sore tropical khakis - long pants, short-sleeve shirt, T-shirt - we'd dressed in the day we left on the rescue mission. But soon our clothes turned yellow, the color of the raft's rubber coating.
We also broke out with water sores - open, pussy messes the size of a quarter or half-dollar - from being wet all the time. Otherwise, we never got sick, no sniffles or colds. Why? There were no diseases to catch in the middle of nowhere.

Could anyone explain the meaning of the sentence starting with "We also break out with..."?

Question

Question from a book
This is an excerpt from the book I'm reading

We still sore tropical khakis - long pants, short-sleeve shirt, T-shirt - we'd dressed in the day we left on the rescue mission. But soon our clothes turned yellow, the color of the raft's rubber coating.
We also broke out with water sores - open, pussy messes the size of a quarter or half-dollar - from being wet all the time. Otherwise, we never got sick, no sniffles or colds. Why? There were no diseases to catch in the middle of nowhere.

Could anyone explain the meaning of the sentence starting with "We also break out with..."?

Answer

In this context "to break out" means that the sores appeared on the skin, typically many of them, all over the body, and rather quickly.  You'll see this phrase used similarly in "I broke out in hives" or "I broke out in a rash" or "My face broke out (with pimples)."

Answer

"Broke out with" means that sores started to appear on their skin.  We use "break out with" to refer to the sudden appearance of skin conditions, like rashes, pimples, or sores.  "Water sores" are sores caused by too much exposure to water or moisture.   "Open, pussy messes" means that the sores were "open" (meaning the skin was broken so that the soft parts beneath the skin were exposed), "pussy" (meaning filled with pus), "messes" (meaning messy, oozing, ugly).  The size of a quarter or half dollar refers to the size of two types of United States coins -- about 3 centimeters or 5 centimeters in diameter.

Answers · 4

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