Break

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English

Verb

Break (third-person singular simple present breaks, present participle breaking, simple past broke, past participle broken)

  1. (intransitive) To end up in two or more pieces that cannot easily be reassembled.
    If the vase falls to the floor, it might break.
  2. (transitive) To cause to end up in two or more pieces that cannot easily be reassembled.
    She broke the vase.
  3. (transitive, US) To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.
    Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me?
    The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers.
  4. (intransitive) Of a bone, to crack or fracture due to a physical strain, such as a collision.
    His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest.
  5. (transitive) To cause, accidentally or intentionally, (a bone) to crack under physical strain.
    She broke his neck.
    He slipped on the ice and broke his leg.
  6. (transitive) To cause (a person) to lose his spirit or will; to crush the spirits of; to ruin (a person) emotionally.
    Her child's death broke her.
    Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war.
  7. To cause an animal to lose its will, to tame.
    You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden.
  8. To cause (a habit) to no longer exist.
    I've got to break this habit I have of biting my nails.
  9. To ruin financially.
    The recession broke some small businesses.
  10. (transitive) To do that which is forbidden by (a rule or rules).
    When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law.
    He broke his vows by cheating on his wife.
    break one's word
  11. (transitive, gaming slang) To design or use a powerful (yet legal) strategy that unbalances the game in a player's favor.
    Letting white have three extra queens would break chess.
  12. (intransitive) To stop functioning properly or altogether.
    On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke.
  13. (transitive) To cause to stop functioning properly or altogether.
    Did you two break the trolley by racing with it?
    1. (specifically, in programming) To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression.
      Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions.
  14. (transitive) To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.
    break a seal
    1. (specifically) To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible.
    2. (specifically) To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination, or the like.
  15. (intransitive, of a wave of water) To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.
  16. (intransitive, of a storm or spell of weather) to end
    The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek
  17. (intransitive) To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily.
    Let's break for lunch.
  18. (transitive) To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object not hit something else beneath.
    He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall.
  19. (transitive, ergative) To disclose or make known an item of news, etc.
    The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous.
    I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back.
  20. (intransitive, of morning) To arrive.
    Morning has broken.
  21. (intransitive, of a sound) To become audible suddenly.
  22. (transitive) To change a steady state abruptly.
    His coughing broke the silence.
    His turning on the lights broke the enchantment.
    With the mood broken, what we had been doing seemed pretty silly.
  23. (intransitive) Of a voice, to alter in type: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack.
    His voice breaks (or cracks) when he gets emotional.
  24. (transitive) To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (an record), setting a new record.
    He broke the mens' 100-meter record.
    I can't believe she broke 3 under par!
    The policeman broke sixty on a residential street in his hurry to catch the thief.
  25. (sports and games):
    1. (intransitive, tennis) To win a game as receiver.
      He needs to break serve to win the match.
    2. (intransitive, billiards, snooker, pool) To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement.
      Is it your or my turn to break?
    3. (backgammon, transitive) To remove one of the two men on (a point).
  26. (transitive, military, most often in the passive tense) To demote, to reduce the military rank of.
  27. (transitive) To end (a connection), to disconnect.
    The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch.
    The referee broke the boxers' clinch.
    I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back.
  28. (Can we verify(+) this sense?)</span> (transitive, US) To arrange a temporary split (with a romantic partner).
  29. (intransitive, of an emulsion) To demulsify.

Noun

Break (plural Breaks)
  1. An instance of breaking something into two pieces.
    The femur has a clean break and so should heal easily.
  2. A physical space that opens up in something or between two things.
    The sun came out in a break in the clouds.
    He waited minutes for a break in the traffic to cross the highway.
  3. (music) A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.
    The fiddle break was amazing, it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note.
  4. A rest or pause, usually from work; a breaktime.
    Let’s take a five-minute break.
  5. A temporary split (with a romantic partner).
    I think we need a break.
  6. An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game.
  7. A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention: big break, lucky break.
  8. (UK, weather) a change; the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather
  9. The beginning (of the morning).
    daybreak
    at the break of day
  10. An act of escaping.
  11. (surfing) A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).

Synonyms for Break

Antonyms for Break

Pronunciation

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