break
/brˈeɪk/
Explore definitions, synonyms, and language insights of break
Definitions
Noun
some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity; "the telephone is an annoying interruption"; "there was a break in the action when a player was hurt"
Noun
an unexpected piece of good luck; "he finally got his big break"
Noun
(geology) a crack in the earth''s crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault"; "he studied the faulting of the earth''s crust"
Noun
a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations"
Noun
a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate"
Noun
the act of breaking something; "the breakage was unavoidable"
Noun
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
Noun
breaking of hard tissue such as bone; "it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall"
Noun
the occurrence of breaking; "the break in the dam threatened the valley"
Noun
an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion); "then there was a break in her voice"
Noun
the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool
Noun
(tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving; "he was up two breaks in the second set"
Noun
an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; "it was presented without commercial breaks"; "there was a gap in his account"
Noun
a sudden dash; "he made a break for the open door"
Noun
any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare; "the break in the eighth frame cost him the match"
Noun
an escape from jail; "the breakout was carefully planned"
Verb
terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty"
Verb
become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"
Verb
render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!"
Verb
ruin completely; "He busted my radio!"
Verb
destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments; "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match"
Verb
act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises; "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law"; "break a promise"
Verb
move away or escape suddenly; "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out--this prison is high security"
Verb
scatter or part; "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"
Verb
force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger"
Verb
prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the negotiations"
Verb
enter someone''s (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act; "Someone broke in while I was on vacation"; "They broke into my car and stole my radio!"; "who broke into my account last night?"
Verb
make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"
Verb
fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax"
Verb
surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break a record"
Verb
make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won''t reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case"
Verb
come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"
Verb
stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident"
Verb
interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns"
Verb
make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one''s own by quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke"
Verb
curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The surf broke"
Verb
lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall"
Verb
be broken in; "If the new teacher won''t break, we''ll add some stress"
Verb
come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"
Verb
vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"
Verb
cause to give up a habit; "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"
Verb
give up; "break cigarette smoking"
Verb
come forth or begin from a state of latency; "The first winter storm broke over New York"
Verb
happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months"
Verb
cause the failure or ruin of; "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright"
Verb
invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken"
Verb
discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up"
Verb
assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sergeant"
Verb
reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter''s fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him"
Verb
change directions suddenly
Verb
emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales broke"
Verb
break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"
Verb
do a break dance; "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner"
Verb
exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"
Verb
destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set"
Verb
make the opening shot that scatters the balls
Verb
separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers"
Verb
go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely"
Verb
break a piece from a whole; "break a branch from a tree"
Verb
become punctured or penetrated; "The skin broke"
Verb
pierce or penetrate; "The blade broke her skin"
Verb
be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning"
Verb
cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station identification"; "let''s break for lunch"
Verb
interrupt the flow of current in; "break a circuit"
Verb
undergo breaking; "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"
Verb
find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof"
Verb
find the solution or key to; "break the code"
Verb
change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another; "Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children"
Verb
happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time"
Verb
become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated"
Verb
crack; of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir"
Verb
fall sharply; "stock prices broke"
Verb
fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey"
Verb
diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient''s fever broke last night"
Verb
weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"
Synonyms
bankrupt
better
breach
break away
break dance
break down
break in
break of serve
break off
break out
break up
breakage
break-dance
breaking
breakout
bring out
bump
burst
bust
cave in
check
collapse
come apart
conk out
crack
damp
dampen
demote
develop
die
disclose
discontinue
discover
disruption
divulge
erupt
expose
fail
fall apart
fall in
falling out
fault
faulting
founder
fracture
gaolbreak
gap
geological fault
get around
get out
give
give away
give out
give way
go
go against
go bad
good luck
happy chance
infract
intermission
intermit
interrupt
interruption
jailbreak
kick downstairs
let on
let out
offend
open frame
part
pause
prisonbreak
prison-breaking
recess
recrudesce
relegate
respite
reveal
rift
ruin
rupture
separate
severance
shift
smash
snap off
soften
split
split up
stop
suspension
time out
transgress
unwrap
violate
weaken
wear
wear out
More General Terms
accident
alter
alteration
annul
appear
assign
avoid
become
blunt
break
break loose
break up
breakup
cave in
cease
chance event
change
change integrity
change of integrity
change state
cleft
collapse
come about
come forth
commute
convert
crack
crevice
crumble
cut off
damage
dance
dash
deaden
decay
decrease
delay
delegate
depute
designate
destroy
detach
detachment
dilapidate
diminish
diphthongise
diphthongize
discontinue
disperse
disrespect
disrupt
dissipate
disunite
divide
domesticate
domesticise
domesticize
emerge
end
escape
exceed
exchange
express emotion
express feelings
fall
fall in
fall out
figure out
finish
fissure
flee
flight
fly
fortuity
founder
get
get away
give
give up
give way
go
go on
hap
happen
happening
harm
holdup
hurt
impoverish
injure
injury
interrupt
interval
intrude
invalidate
lay off
lessen
lick
modification
modify
natural event
nullify
occur
occurrence
occurrent
outdo
outgo
outmatch
outperform
outstrip
part
pass
pass off
pause
penetrate
perforate
puzzle out
quash
quit
reclaim
ruin
scatter
scissure
score
separate
separation
shift
shoot
shot
solve
split
split up
spread out
sprint
stop
stroke
surmount
surpass
switch
take flight
take place
tame
tell
terminate
time interval
trauma
trespass
trip the light fantastic
trip the light fantastic toe
turn
vary
void
weaken
work
work out
wound
More Specific Terms
abatement
abruption
babble
babble out
barracking
betray
bewray
blab
blab out
blackout
blackwash
blow
blow out
blunder
bog
bog down
boob
break
break apart
break away
break down
break in
break off
break open
break short
break up
break with
breaking off
breathe
buckle
burn out
burst
bust
caesura
capillary fracture
catch one''s breath
chip
chipping
closed fracture
come out
come out of the closet
comminuted fracture
complete fracture
compound fracture
compression fracture
confide
conflict
contravene
crack
cracking
crash
crumple
crush
cut off
cut short
cut-in
damp
dampen
dash
dead air
deaden
deafen
delay
depressed fracture
disassociate
disjoint
dislocation
displaced fracture
disrupt
disruption
dissociate
disunify
disunite
divorce
drop the ball
eclipse
fast break
fatigue fracture
flop
fly in the face of
fly in the teeth of
fracture
fragment
fragmentise
fragmentize
fray
frazzle
freeze
give the axe
give the bounce
give the gate
go down
go off
goof
hairline fracture
halftime
heckling
hiatus
hold
hold on
impacted fracture
implode
inclined fault
incomplete fracture
infringe
insert
interjection
interpellation
interpolation
interposition
interrupt
intrude
ladder
lapse
leak
leak out
let the cat out of the bag
letup
lull
malfunction
misfire
misfunction
muckrake
occultation
open fracture
out
peach
postponement
punctuation
puncture
reduce
relief
reprieve
respite
rest
rest period
reveal
run
run afoul
rupture
schism
secede
shatter
shattering
sideline
simple fracture
sin
sing
sink
slide down
slump
smash
smashing
snap
spill the beans
splinter
splintering
split
split up
spring
spring break
stop
stress fracture
strike-slip fault
suspend
suspension
take a breather
take five
take ten
talk
tattle
time lag
time-out
transgress
trespass
wait