When you say "stopped working" do you mean dead as a doornail - no matterhow you wiggle the plug it will not power the lamp or such? If it is that dead - and nothing else is wrong anywhere else - it is likely one of 3 things has occured,.
1) It may be on its own circuit - make sure all breakers are on. If theya re all OK then carefully remove the outlets - do not contact the sides or rear and if you can get to the leadwires on the screw terminal - use a voltmeter to check them. If there is voltage -the socket is bad. Find the breaker and kill the power to taht outlet and change it with a quality one - not a 5 for $1 discount one.
If the cable to the dead outlet shows NO voltage -you lost power feeding that outlet. Keep inmind that outlets are usualy in a string - called a daisy chain. That is the main power feeds into an outlet somewhere and that one feeds of to a 2nd and a3rd and so on. If this is the only one dead - and all others are alive -the check the nearest outlet nearby with a load (lamp or something). If it is alive - kill power to that live outlet and remove it and then assess by wiggling and tugging slightly the cable exiting it toward the dead one. - does the electrical feed (NM cable or Romex etc) look like it goes in that direction as it exits the box in the wall. Try to determine which direction the dead outlet cable is run and go to the next outlet to it. My point here is that the wiring feeding the dead outlet is probably disconnected from the prior one (loose screw - broken wire etc) and is sitting there unconnected. Opening that next box may show 2 cables one entering and one exiting to somewhere. Use your best judgement in visually assessing where the dead one is fed from. It is unlikely it goes back to the main fuse/breaker box. If you determine that the live box (yo killed to check) is indeed feeding the dead outlet - then their are likely either wire-nuts inside that box tying the power thru to the dead one - loosen them or with insulated plyers tug somewhat on the individual leads and see if one pulls out of a wire nut. Otherwise remove the wire nuts one at atime and check for a solid twistsed conductor connection on all leads. It may be that the feeds are tied together using a push connection - where the stripped leads are simply slipped into the rear of the outlet and there are no wirenuts. Pull on the leads that are pushed into the rear of the outlet. If they are under screw terminals - check to make sure all leads are secure - curled under teh screws and look like solid connections. Point here- make sure you see COPPER - I have seen electricians gabbing and shove an Awg14 lighting lead into the rear holes of an outlet - UNSTRIPPED. So look into crevices and make sure you see copper.
By doing these things and using common sense you will find the source of the problem. simply put -it is either a bad outlet -or a broken lead from a prior jumper. Always work with the power OFF - check and recheck and even then - use a meter to be sure. I am sure you will find the source and always use quality outlets and switches. Not these Chinese box of 20 for $5 items. Good luck
Marty
