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