Break - definition, pronunciation, transcription
noun
- a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions) (syn: breach, rift, rupture, severance)
- breaking of hard tissue such as bone (syn: fracture)
- (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving
verb
break the cycle of poverty
- render inoperable or ineffective
- ruin completely (syn: bust)
- destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
- act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises (syn: breach, offend, transgress, violate)
break a promise
- force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up (syn: burst, erupt)
- make submissive, obedient, or useful (syn: break in)
- surpass in excellence (syn: better)
- come into being
- stop operating or functioning (syn: break down, conk out, die, fail, give out, go)
- interrupt a continued activity (syn: break away)
- make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
- curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
- lessen in force or effect (syn: damp, dampen, soften, weaken)
- vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
- cause to give up a habit
- give up
- happen or take place
- discontinue an association or relation; go different ways (syn: break up, part, separate, split, split up)
- assign to a lower position; reduce in rank (syn: bump, demote, relegate)
- reduce to bankruptcy (syn: bankrupt, ruin, smash)
- emerge from the surface of a body of water
- break down, literally or metaphorically (syn: cave in, collapse, fall in, founder, give)
- do a break dance
- separate from a clinch, in boxing
- go to pieces (syn: bust, wear, wear out)
- break a piece from a whole (syn: break off, snap off)
- pierce or penetrate
- be released or become known; of news (syn: get around, get out)
- cease an action temporarily (syn: intermit, pause)
- find a flaw in
break down a proof
- happen (syn: develop, recrudesce)
- become fractured; break or crack on the surface only (syn: check, crack)
- crack; of the male voice in puberty
- fracture a bone of (syn: fracture)
- diminish or discontinue abruptly
- weaken or destroy in spirit or body
Extra examples
She broke the cup when she dropped it on the floor.
Break the chocolate bar into pieces so that everyone can have some.
It is easiest to break a chain at its weakest link.
A chain will break at its weakest link.
The fall broke his arm.
His arm broke in three places when he fell.
A bruise forms when a blood vessel breaks under the skin.
The tank is reinforced to prevent breaks and leaks.
There was a break in the hedge.
We waited for a break in the traffic.
The fields extend for miles without a break.
We chatted during a break in the game.
All employees are entitled to two breaks during the workday.
We've been working all day without a break.
He fell through the window, breaking the glass.
Phrasal verbs
break down — make ineffective
break in — enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act
break off — interrupt before its natural or planned end
break out — start abruptly
break through — pass through (a barrier)
break up — to cause to separate and go in different directions
Word forms
I/you/we/they: break
he/she/it: breaks
present participle: breaking
past tense: broke
past participle: broken
singular: break
plural: breaks
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