Definitions of break in various dictionaries:
noun -
some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
noun -
an unexpected piece of good luck
noun -
(geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other
noun -
a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
noun -
a pause from doing something (as work)
noun -
the act of breaking something
noun -
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
noun -
breaking of hard tissue such as bone
noun -
the occurrence of breaking
noun -
an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion)
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
noun -
an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
noun -
a sudden dash
noun -
any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare
noun -
an escape from jail
verb -
terminate
verb -
become separated into pieces or fragments
verb -
render inoperable or ineffective
verb -
ruin completely
verb -
destroy the integrity of
verb -
act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
verb -
move away or escape suddenly
verb -
scatter or part
verb -
force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
verb -
prevent completion
verb -
enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act
verb -
make submissive, obedient, or useful
verb -
fail to agree with
verb -
surpass in excellence
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
verb -
come into being
verb -
stop operating or functioning
verb -
interrupt a continued activity
verb -
make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
verb -
curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
verb -
lessen in force or effect
verb -
be broken in
verb -
come to an end
verb -
vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
verb -
cause to give up a habit
verb -
give up
verb -
come forth or begin from a state of latency
verb -
happen or take place
verb -
cause the failure or ruin of
verb -
invalidate by judicial action
verb -
discontinue an association or relation
verb -
assign to a lower position
verb -
reduce to bankruptcy
verb -
change directions suddenly
verb -
emerge from the surface of a body of water
verb -
break down, literally or metaphorically
verb -
do a break dance
verb -
exchange for smaller units of money
verb -
destroy the completeness of a set of related items
verb -
make the opening shot that scatters the balls
verb -
separate from a clinch, in boxing
verb -
go to pieces
verb -
break a piece from a whole
verb -
become punctured or penetrated
verb -
pierce or penetrate
verb -
be released or become known
verb -
cease an action temporarily
verb -
interrupt the flow of current in
verb -
undergo breaking
verb -
find a flaw in
verb -
find the solution or key to
verb -
change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another
verb -
happen
verb -
become fractured
verb -
crack
verb -
fall sharply
verb -
fracture a bone of
verb -
diminish or discontinue abruptly
verb -
weaken or destroy in spirit or body
To cause to separate into pieces suddenly or violently; smash.
To divide into pieces, as by bending or cutting: break crackers for a baby.
To snap off or detach: broke a twig from the tree.
To fracture a bone of: I broke my leg.
To fracture (a bone): I broke my femur.
To crack without separating into pieces.
To destroy the completeness of (a group of related items): broke the set of books by giving some away.
To exchange for smaller monetary units: break a dollar.
To vary or disrupt the uniformity or continuity of: a plain that was broken by low hills; caught the ball without breaking stride.
To open: break a circuit.
To force or make a way through; puncture or penetrate: The blade barely broke the skin.
To part or pierce the surface of: a dolphin breaking water.
To cause to burst.
To force one’s way out of; escape from: break jail.
To find an opening or flaw in: They couldn’t break my alibi.
To find the solution or key to; uncover the basic elements and arrangement of: break a code; break a spy ring.
To make known, as news: break a story.
To surpass or outdo: broke the league’s home-run record.
To overcome (a force or resistance): break the sound barrier.
To put an end to by force or strong opposition, especially to end (a strike) by means other than negotiation.
To lessen in force or effect: break a fall.
To render useless or inoperative: We accidentally broke the radio.
To weaken or destroy, as in spirit or health; overwhelm with adversity: “For a hero loves the world till it breaks him” (William Butler Yeats).
To cause the ruin or failure of (an enterprise, for example): Indiscretion broke both marriage and career.
To reduce in rank; demote.
To cause to be without money or go into bankruptcy.
To fail to fulfill; cancel: break an engagement; break one’s vacation plans.
To fail to conform to; violate: break the speed limit.
To invalidate (a will) by judicial action.
To give up (a habit).
To cause to give up a habit: They managed to break themselves of smoking.
To train to obey; tame: The horse was difficult to break.
To become separated into pieces or fragments.
To become cracked or split.
To become unusable or inoperative: The television broke.
To give way; collapse.
To burst: The blister has finally broken.
To become punctured or penetrated.
To intrude on: They broke in upon a heady conversation.
To filter in or penetrate: Sunlight broke into the room.
To become fractured.
To scatter or disperse; part: The clouds broke after the storm.
To make the opening shot that scatters the grouped balls in billiards or pool.
To separate from a clinch in boxing.
To move away or escape suddenly.
To come forth or begin from a state of latency; come into being or emerge: A storm was breaking over Miami.
To emerge above the surface of water.
To become known or noticed: The big story broke on Friday.
To change direction suddenly.
To curve near or over the plate: The pitch broke away from the batter.
To change suddenly from one tone quality or musical register to another: My voice broke to a whisper.
To undergo breaking.
To change to a gait different from the one set.
To interrupt or cease an activity: We’ll break for coffee at ten.
To discontinue an association, an agreement, or a relationship: The partners broke over a financial matter.
To diminish or discontinue abruptly: The fever is breaking.
To diminish in or lose physical or spiritual strength; weaken or succumb: Their good cheer broke after repeated setbacks.
To decrease sharply in value or quantity: Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly an noun ced layoffs.
To come to an end: The cold spell broke yesterday.
To collapse or crash into surf or spray: waves that were breaking along the shore.
To take place or happen; proceed: Things have been breaking well for them.
To break dance.
The act or an occurrence of breaking.
The result of breaking, as a crack or separation.
A beginning or an opening: the break of day; a break in the clouds.
A sudden movement; a dash: The dog made a break toward the open field.
An escape: a prison break.
An interruption or a disruption in continuity or regularity: television programming without commercial breaks.
A pause or an interval, as from work: a coffee break.
A sudden or marked change.
A violation: a security break.
An often sudden piece of luck, especially good luck: finally got the big break in life.
Informal.
An allowance or indulgence; accommodating treatment: The boss gave me a break because I’d been sick.
A favorable price or reduction: a tax break for charitable contributions.
A severing of ties: made a break with the past; a break between the two families.
A faux pas.
A sudden decline in prices.
A caesura.
Printing.
The space between two paragraphs.
A series of three dots (...) used to indicate an omission in a text.
The place where a word is or should be divided at the end of a line.
Interruption of a flow of current.
A marked change in topography such as a fault or deep valley.
The point of discontinuity between two levels on the deck of a ship.
Music.
The point at which one register or a tonal quality changes to another.
The change itself.
A solo jazz cadenza played during the pause between the regular phrases or choruses of a melody.
A change in a horse’s gait to one different from that set by the rider.
The swerving of a ball from a straight path of flight, as in baseball or cricket.
The beginning of a race.
The separation after a clinch in boxing.
The opening shot that scatters the grouped balls in billiards or pool.
A run or unbroken series of successful shots, as in billiards or croquet.
Failure to score a strike or a spare in a given bowling frame.
A high horse-drawn carriage with four wheels.
Break dancing.
To cause to collapse; destroy: break down a partition; broke down our resolve.
To become or cause to become distressed or upset.
To have a physical or mental collapse.
To give up resistance; give way: broke down and bought a new car; prejudices that break down slowly.
To fail to function; cease to be useful, effective, or operable: The elevator broke down.
To render or become weak or ineffective: Opposition to the king’s rule gradually broke down his authority.
To divide into or consider in parts; analyze.
To be divisible; admit of analysis: The population breaks down into three main groups.
To decompose or cause to decompose chemically.
Electricity.
To train or adapt for a purpose.
To loosen or soften with use: break in new shoes.
To enter premises forcibly or illegally: a prowler who was trying to break in.
To interrupt a conversation or discussion.
To intrude.
To interrupt: “No one would have dared to break into his abstraction” (Alan Paton).
To begin suddenly: The horse broke into a wild gallop.
To enter (a field of activity): broke into broadcast journalism at an early age.
To separate or become separated, as by twisting or tearing.
To stop suddenly, as in speaking.
To discontinue (a relationship).
To cease to be friendly.
To become affected with a skin eruption, such as pimples.
To develop suddenly and forcefully: Fighting broke out in the prison cells.
To bring forth for consumption: Let’s break out the champagne.
To emerge or escape.
To be separable or classifiable into categories, as data.
To isolate (information) from a large body of data.
To separate into pieces; divide: break up a chocolate bar.
To interrupt the uniformity or continuity of: An impromptu visit broke up the long afternoon.
To scatter; disperse: The crowd broke up after the game.
To bring or come to an end: Guards broke up the fight.
To burst or cause to burst into laughter.
To fall into disorder, as a formation of soldiers.
To fail to conform to a prevailing or expected pattern or order: “Architectural experts have criticized the plaza in the past because it breaks rank with the distinctive faades of neighboring Fifth Avenue blocks, whose buildings are flush with the sidewalk” (Sharon Churcher).
To make a start.
To shatter is to break into many loose scattered pieces: The bottle will shatter if you drop it.
verb - to reduce to fragments