Definition Definition

Break - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'Break' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Break [ n.]
- See Commutator.
2 . Break [ v. i.]
- To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.
- To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.
- To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn.
- To burst forth violently, as a storm.
- To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking.
- To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
- To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking.
- To fall in business; to become bankrupt.
- To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop.
- To fail in musical quality; as, a singer's voice breaks when it is strained beyond its compass and a tone or note is not completed, but degenerates into an unmusical sound instead. Also, to change in tone, as a boy's voice at puberty.
- To fall out; to terminate friendship.
3 . Break [ v. t.]
- To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.
- To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.
- To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
- To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
- To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey.
- To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.
- To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.
- To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
- To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
- To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.
- To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
- To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.
- To impart, as news or information; to broach; -- with to, and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as, to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose cautiously to a friend.
- To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle.
- To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.
- To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
- An opening made by fracture or disruption.
- An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship.
- A projection or recess from the face of a building.
- An opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current.
- An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.
- An interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc.
- The first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.
- A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.
- A device for checking motion, or for measuring friction. See Brake, n. 9 & 10.

Meaning of 'Break' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . break [ n]
Meaning (1):
- an unexpected piece of good luck
Example in sentence:
  • he finally got his big break
Meaning (2):
- a sudden dash
Example in sentence:
  • he made a break for the open door
Meaning (3):
- (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other
Example in sentence:
  • he studied the faulting of the earth's crust;
  • they built it right over a geological fault
Meaning (4):
- a pause from doing something (as work)
Example in sentence:
  • he took time out to recuperate;
  • we took a 10-minute break
Meaning (5):
- (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving
Example in sentence:
  • he was up two breaks in the second set
Meaning (6):
- breaking of hard tissue such as bone
Example in sentence:
  • it was a nasty fracture;
  • the break seems to have been caused by a fall
Meaning (7):
- an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
Example in sentence:
  • it was presented without commercial breaks;
  • there was a gap in his account
Meaning (8):
- the occurrence of breaking
Example in sentence:
  • the break in the dam threatened the valley
Meaning (9):
- any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare
Example in sentence:
  • the break in the eighth frame cost him the match
Meaning (10):
- the act of breaking something
Example in sentence:
  • the breakage was unavoidable
Meaning (11):
- an escape from jail
Example in sentence:
  • the breakout was carefully planned
Meaning (12):
- some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
Example in sentence:
  • the telephone is an annoying interruption;
  • there was a break in the action when a player was hurt
Meaning (13):
- an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion)
Example in sentence:
  • then there was a break in her voice
Meaning (14):
- a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
Example in sentence:
  • they hoped to avoid a break in relations
15 . break [ v]
Meaning (15):
- weaken or destroy in spirit or body
Example in sentence:
  • a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death;
  • His resistance was broken
Meaning (16):
- break a piece from a whole
Example in sentence:
  • break a branch from a tree
Meaning (17):
- interrupt the flow of current in
Example in sentence:
  • break a circuit
Meaning (18):
- lessen in force or effect
Example in sentence:
  • break a fall;
  • soften a shock
Meaning (19):
- act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
Example in sentence:
  • break a law;
  • break a promise;
  • offend all laws of humanity;
  • violate the basic laws or human civilization
Meaning (20):
- terminate
Example in sentence:
  • break a lucky streak;
  • break the cycle of poverty;
  • She interrupted her pregnancy;
  • The NSF axed the research program and stopped funding it;
  • We closed out our account
Meaning (21):
- surpass in excellence
Example in sentence:
  • break a record;
  • She bettered her own record
Meaning (22):
- find a flaw in
Example in sentence:
  • break an alibi;
  • break down a proof
Meaning (23):
- give up
Example in sentence:
  • break cigarette smoking
Meaning (24):
- force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
Example in sentence:
  • break into tears;
  • erupt in anger
Meaning (25):
- prevent completion
Example in sentence:
  • break off the negotiations;
  • stop the project
Meaning (26):
- find the solution or key to
Example in sentence:
  • break the code
Meaning (27):
- make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret
Example in sentence:
  • bring out the truth;
  • he broke the news to her;
  • The actress won't reveal how old she is;
  • The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold;
  • The newspaper uncovered the President's illegal dealings;
  • unwrap the evidence in the murder case
Meaning (28):
- destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
Example in sentence:
  • He broke the glass plate;
  • She broke the match
Meaning (29):
- ruin completely
Example in sentence:
  • He busted my radio!
Meaning (30):
- assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
Example in sentence:
  • He was broken down to Sergeant;
  • She was demoted because she always speaks up
Meaning (31):
- stop operating or functioning
Example in sentence:
  • her eyesight went after the accident;
  • The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town;
  • The car died on the road;
  • The coffee maker broke;
  • The engine failed on the way to town;
  • The engine finally went
Meaning (32):
- change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another
Example in sentence:
  • Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children
Meaning (33):
- cause the failure or ruin of
Example in sentence:
  • His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage;
  • This play will either make or break the playwright
Meaning (34):
- crack; of the male voice in puberty
Example in sentence:
  • his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir
Meaning (35):
- make submissive, obedient, or useful
Example in sentence:
  • I broke in the new intern;
  • The horse was tough to break
Meaning (36):
- fracture a bone of
Example in sentence:
  • I broke my foot while playing hockey
Meaning (37):
- exchange for smaller units of money
Example in sentence:
  • I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy
Meaning (38):
- be broken in
Example in sentence:
  • If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress
Meaning (39):
- do a break dance
Example in sentence:
  • Kids were break-dancing at the street corner
Meaning (40):
- cease an action temporarily
Example in sentence:
  • let's break for lunch;
  • We pause for station identification
Meaning (41):
- come into being
Example in sentence:
  • light broke over the horizon;
  • Voices broke in the air
Meaning (42):
- reduce to bankruptcy
Example in sentence:
  • My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!;
  • The slump in the financial markets smashed him
Meaning (43):
- discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
Example in sentence:
  • My friend and I split up;
  • The business partners broke over a tax question;
  • The couple separated after 25 years of marriage
Meaning (44):
- be released or become known; of news
Example in sentence:
  • News of her death broke in the morning
Meaning (45):
- move away or escape suddenly
Example in sentence:
  • Nobody can break out--this prison is high security;
  • The horses broke from the stable;
  • Three inmates broke jail
Meaning (46):
- happen
Example in sentence:
  • Report the news as it develops;
  • These political movements recrudesce from time to time
Meaning (47):
- cause to give up a habit
Example in sentence:
  • She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes
Meaning (48):
- interrupt a continued activity
Example in sentence:
  • She had broken with the traditional patterns
Meaning (49):
- enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act
Example in sentence:
  • Someone broke in while I was on vacation;
  • They broke into my car and stole my radio!;
  • who broke into my account last night?
Meaning (50):
- fall sharply
Example in sentence:
  • stock prices broke
Meaning (51):
- pierce or penetrate
Example in sentence:
  • The blade broke her skin
Meaning (52):
- destroy the completeness of a set of related items
Example in sentence:
  • The book dealer would not break the set
Meaning (53):
- break down, literally or metaphorically
Example in sentence:
  • The business collapsed;
  • The dam broke;
  • The roof collapsed;
  • The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice;
  • The wall collapsed;
  • The wall gave in
Meaning (54):
- scatter or part
Example in sentence:
  • The clouds broke after the heavy downpour
Meaning (55):
- become separated into pieces or fragments
Example in sentence:
  • The figurine broke;
  • The freshly baked loaf fell apart
Meaning (56):
- come forth or begin from a state of latency
Example in sentence:
  • The first winter storm broke over New York
Meaning (57):
- vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
Example in sentence:
  • The flat plain was broken by tall mesas
Meaning (58):
- go to pieces
Example in sentence:
  • The gears wore out;
  • The lawn mower finally broke;
  • The old chair finally fell apart completely
Meaning (59):
- become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
Example in sentence:
  • The glass cracked when it was heated
Meaning (60):
- come to an end
Example in sentence:
  • The heat wave finally broke yesterday;
  • The tobacco monopoly broke up;
  • Their marriage dissolved
Meaning (61):
- diminish or discontinue abruptly
Example in sentence:
  • The patient's fever broke last night
Meaning (62):
- make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
Example in sentence:
  • The ranks broke
Meaning (63):
- separate from a clinch, in boxing
Example in sentence:
  • The referee broke the boxers
Meaning (64):
- undergo breaking
Example in sentence:
  • The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages
Meaning (65):
- become punctured or penetrated
Example in sentence:
  • The skin broke
Meaning (66):
- curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
Example in sentence:
  • The surf broke
Meaning (67):
- emerge from the surface of a body of water
Example in sentence:
  • The whales broke
Meaning (68):
- invalidate by judicial action
Example in sentence:
  • The will was broken
Meaning (69):
- happen or take place
Example in sentence:
  • Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months
Meaning (70):
- fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns
Example in sentence:
  • This sentence violates the rules of syntax
Meaning (71):
- render inoperable or ineffective
Example in sentence:
  • You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!

Nearby Words:

breach breached breaching breachy bread breadbasket breadcorn breaded breaden breadfruit

See 'Break' also in:

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