break meaning and definition

BREAK noun

Definition of break (noun)

1. 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"
   • synonyms: interruption
2. an unexpected piece of good luck
   • "he finally got his big break"
   • synonyms: good luck, happy chance
3. (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"
   • synonyms: fault, faulting, fracture, geological fault, shift
4. a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
   • "they hoped to avoid a break in relations"
   • synonyms: breach, falling out, rift, rupture, severance
5. a pause from doing something (as work)
   • "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate"
   • synonyms: recess, respite, time out
6. the act of breaking something
   • "the breakage was unavoidable"
   • synonyms: breakage, breaking
7. a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
   • synonyms: intermission, interruption, pause, suspension
8. breaking of hard tissue such as bone
   • "it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall"
   • synonyms: fracture
9. the occurrence of breaking
   • "the break in the dam threatened the valley"
10. 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"
11. the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool
12. (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving
    • "he was up two breaks in the second set"
    • synonyms: break of serve
13. an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
    • "it was presented without commercial breaks"; "there was a gap in his account"
    • synonyms: disruption, gap, interruption
14. a sudden dash
    • "he made a break for the open door"
15. any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare
    • "the break in the eighth frame cost him the match"
    • synonyms: open frame
16. an escape from jail
    • "the breakout was carefully planned"
    • synonyms: breakout, gaolbreak, jailbreak, prisonbreak, prison-breaking

BREAK verb

Definition of break (verb)

1. terminate
   • "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty"
   • synonyms: interrupt
2. become separated into pieces or fragments
   • "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"
   • synonyms: come apart, fall apart, separate, split up
3. render inoperable or ineffective
   • "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!"
4. ruin completely
   • "He busted my radio!"
   • synonyms: bust
   • antonym: bushel
5. destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
   • "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match"
6. 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"
   • synonyms: breach, go against, infract, offend, transgress, violate
   • antonym: keep
7. move away or escape suddenly
   • "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out--this prison is high security"
   • synonyms: break away, break out
8. scatter or part
   • "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"
9. force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
   • "break into tears"; "erupt in anger"
   • synonyms: burst, erupt
10. prevent completion
    • "stop the project"; "break off the negotiations"
    • synonyms: break off, discontinue, stop
11. 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?"
    • synonyms: break in
12. make submissive, obedient, or useful
    • "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"
    • synonyms: break in
13. fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns
    • "This sentence violates the rules of syntax"
    • synonyms: go against, violate
    • antonym: conform to
14. surpass in excellence
    • "She bettered her own record"; "break a record"
    • synonyms: better
15. 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"
    • synonyms: bring out, disclose, discover, divulge, expose, give away, let on, let out, reveal, unwrap
16. come into being
    • "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"
17. 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"
    • synonyms: break down, conk out, die, fail, give out, give way, go, go bad
18. interrupt a continued activity
    • "She had broken with the traditional patterns"
    • synonyms: break away
19. make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
    • "The ranks broke"
20. curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
    • "The surf broke"
21. lessen in force or effect
    • "soften a shock"; "break a fall"
    • synonyms: damp, dampen, soften, weaken
22. be broken in
    • "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"
23. come to an end
    • "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"
24. vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
    • "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"
25. cause to give up a habit
    • "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"
26. give up
    • "break cigarette smoking"
27. come forth or begin from a state of latency
    • "The first winter storm broke over New York"
28. happen or take place
    • "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months"
29. cause the failure or ruin of
    • "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright"
    • antonym: make
30. invalidate by judicial action
    • "The will was broken"
31. 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"
    • synonyms: break up, part, separate, split, split up
32. assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
    • "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sergeant"
    • synonyms: bump, demote, kick downstairs, relegate
    • antonym: advance
33. reduce to bankruptcy
    • "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him"
    • synonyms: bankrupt, ruin, smash
34. change directions suddenly
35. emerge from the surface of a body of water
    • "The whales broke"
36. 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"
    • synonyms: cave in, collapse, fall in, founder, give, give way
37. do a break dance
    • "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner"
    • synonyms: break dance, break-dance
38. exchange for smaller units of money
    • "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"
39. destroy the completeness of a set of related items
    • "The book dealer would not break the set"
    • synonyms: break up
40. make the opening shot that scatters the balls
41. separate from a clinch, in boxing
    • "The referee broke the boxers"
42. go to pieces
    • "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely"
    • synonyms: bust, fall apart, wear, wear out
43. break a piece from a whole
    • "break a branch from a tree"
    • synonyms: break off, snap off
44. become punctured or penetrated
    • "The skin broke"
45. pierce or penetrate
    • "The blade broke her skin"
46. be released or become known; of news
    • "News of her death broke in the morning"
    • synonyms: get around, get out
47. cease an action temporarily
    • "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch"
    • synonyms: intermit, pause
48. interrupt the flow of current in
    • "break a circuit"
49. undergo breaking
    • "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"
50. find a flaw in
    • "break an alibi"; "break down a proof"
51. find the solution or key to
    • "break the code"
52. change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another
    • "Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children"
53. happen
    • "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time"
    • synonyms: develop, recrudesce
54. become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
    • "The glass cracked when it was heated"
    • synonyms: check, crack
55. crack; of the male voice in puberty
    • "his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir"
56. fall sharply
    • "stock prices broke"
57. fracture a bone of
    • "I broke my foot while playing hockey"
    • synonyms: fracture
58. diminish or discontinue abruptly
    • "The patient's fever broke last night"
59. weaken or destroy in spirit or body
    • "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"