Definitions of break [ɪk]

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Definition of 'break'

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

1. (v.t.) break
to smash, split, or divide into parts violently.

2.  break
to disable or destroy by or as if by shattering or crushing:
I broke my watch.

3.  break
to violate or disregard (a law, promise, etc.).

4.  break
to fracture a bone of.

5.  break
to rupture the surface of:
to break the skin.

6.  break
to destroy or disrupt the regularity, uniformity, or continuity of; interrupt:
A scream broke the silence.

7.  break
to put an end to:
to break a tie.

8.  break
to discover the system, key, etc., for decoding or deciphering (a code, cryptogram, etc.).

9.  break
to remove a part from (a set or collection).

10.  break
to exchange for or divide into smaller units:
to break a ten dollar bill.

11.  break
to make a way through; penetrate:
The stone broke the surface of the water.

12.  break
to escape from, esp. by force:
to break jail.

13.  break
to better (a score or record).

14.  break
to disclose or reveal:
They broke the bad news to us.

15.  break
to solve:
to break a murder case.

16.  break
to ruin financially; bankrupt.

17.  break
to overcome or wear down the spirit, strength, or resistance of.

18.  break
to reduce in rank.

19.  break
to lessen or weaken the power, impact, or intensity of:
His arm broke the blow.

20.  break
to train to obedience; tame:
to break a horse.

21.  break
to train away from a habit or practice (usu. fol. by of).

22.  break
to contest (a will) successfully by judicial action.

23.  break
to render (an electronic circuit) incomplete; stop the flow of (a current).

24.  break
(in tennis and other racket games) to score frequently or win against (an opponent's serve).

25.  break
to prove the falsity of:
The FBI broke his alibi.

26.  break
to begin or initiate (a plan or campaign).

27.  break
to open the breech or action of (a shotgun, rifle, or revolver).

28. (v.i.) break
to separate into parts or fragments, esp. suddenly and violently; shatter; burst.

29.  break
to become inoperative or malfunction, as through wear or damage.

30.  break
to become suddenly discontinuous or interrupted; stop abruptly.

31.  break
to become detached, separated, or disassociated:
to break with the past.

32.  break
to begin uttering a sound or series of sounds suddenly:
to break into song.

33.  break
to express or start to express an emotion or mood, esp. suddenly:
Her face broke into a smile.

34.  break
(of a news item) to be released, published, or aired.

35.  break
to free oneself or escape suddenly, as from restraint.

36.  break
to run or dash toward something suddenly (usu. fol. by for):
He broke for the goal line.

37.  break
to force a way:
The hunters broke through the underbrush.

38.  break
to burst or rupture:
A blood vessel broke.

39.  break
to interrupt or halt an activity:
Let's break for lunch.

40.  break
to appear or arrive suddenly:
A deer broke into the clearing.

41.  break
to dawn:
The day broke hot.

42.  break
to begin violently and suddenly:
The storm broke.

43.  break
(of a storm, foul weather, etc.) to cease.

44.  break
to part the surface of water, as a jumping fish or surfacing submarine.

45.  break
to give way or fail, as health, strength, or spirit.

46.  break
to yield or submit to pressure, torture, etc.:
to break under questioning.

47.  break
(of the heart) to be overwhelmed with sorrow.

48.  break
(of the voice or a musical instrument) to change harshly from one register or pitch to another.

49.  break
(of the voice) to cease, waver, or change tone abruptly, esp. from emotional strain.

50.  break
(of value or prices) to drop sharply and considerably.

51.  break
to disperse or collapse by colliding with something:
The waves broke on the shore.

52.  break
(of a vowel) to undergo breaking.

53.  break
to make the opening play in pool by striking the racked balls with the cue ball and causing them to scatter.

54.  break
(of a pitched or bowled ball) to change direction:
The ball broke over the plate.

55.  break
to leave the starting point in a race:
The horses broke from the gate.

56.  break
(of boxers) to step back or separate from a clinch.

57.  break
to take place; occur.

58.  break
break away,

59.  break
to leave or escape, esp. suddenly or hurriedly.

60.  break
to sever connections or allegiance, as to tradition or a group.

61.  break
to start prematurely, as a horse from the starting gate.

62.  break
break down,

63.  break
to cease to function.

64.  break
to become ineffective; fail.

65.  break
to cause to collapse or become inoperative:
to break down resistance.

66.  break
to separate into constituent parts.

67.  break
to lose control over one's emotions, esp. to cry.

68.  break
to have a complete physical or mental collapse.

69.  break
(of an insulator) to fail, as when subjected to excessively high voltage, permitting a current to pass.

70.  break
break in,

71.  break
to enter property by force or craft.

72.  break
to train or make accustomed to a new situation.

73.  break
to wear or use (something new) and thereby ease stiffness, tightness, etc.

74.  break
to interrupt.

75.  break
break into,

76.  break
to interrupt.

77.  break
to begin abruptly.

78.  break
to enter (a business or profession).

79.  break
to enter (property) by force.

80.  break
break off,

81.  break
to sever by breaking.

82.  break
to stop suddenly; discontinue:
to break off relations.

83.  break
break out,

84.  break
to begin abruptly; arise:
An epidemic broke out.

85.  break
(of a person) to manifest a skin eruption.

86.  break
(of certain diseases) to appear in eruptions.

87.  break
to prepare for use:
to break out the parachutes.

88.  break
to take out for consumption:
Let's break out the champagne.

89.  break
to escape; flee.

90.  break
to separate by or into categories.

91.  break
break up,

92.  break
to separate; scatter.

93.  break
to put an end to; discontinue.

94.  break
to divide or become divided into pieces.

95.  break
to dissolve.

96.  break
to disrupt; upset:
breaking up the continuity.

97.  break
(of a personal relationship) to end.

98.  break
to end a personal relationship.

99.  break
to be or cause to be overcome with laughter.

100.  break
break with,

101.  break
to sever relations with; separate from:
to break with one's family.

102. (n.) break
an opening made by or as if by breaking; gap.

103.  break
an act or instance of breaking; separation of parts; fracture; rupture.

104.  break
an interruption of continuity:
a break with tradition.

105.  break
a brief rest, as from work.

106.  break
a suspension of or sudden rupture in friendly relations.

107.  break
an abrupt or marked change:
a break in the weather.

108.  break
an attempt to escape:
a prison break.

109.  break
a sudden dash or rush:
Let's make a break for it!

110.  break
a stroke of fortune, esp. a lucky one.

111.  break
a chance to improve one's lot, esp. one unlooked for or undeserved.

112.  break
Informal. the way things happen; fate:
Those are the breaks.

113.  break
a brief, scheduled interruption of a radio or television program, as for a commercial.

114.  break
a prosodic pause or caesura.

115.  break
a marked change in voice quality or pitch:
a break in her voice.

116.  break
a usu. short solo instrumental passage in jazz or popular music.

117.  break
a sharp and considerable drop in prices.

118.  break
an opening or discontinuity in an electronic circuit.

119.  break
one or more blank lines between two printed paragraphs.

120.  break
the place, after a letter, where a word is or may be divided at the end of a line.

121.  break
breaks,

122.  break
the point at the bottom of a column where a printed story is broken off and continued on a subsequent page.

123.  break
a collapse of health, strength, or spirit; breakdown.

124.  break
the opening play in a game of pool, in which the cue ball is shot to scatter the balls.

125.  break
a change in direction of a pitched or bowled ball.

126.  break
(in harness racing) an instance of a horse's changing from a trot or pace into a gallop or other step.

127.  break
a failure to knock down all ten pins in a single frame in bowling.

128.  break
an act or instance of stepping back or separating from a clinch in boxing.

129.  break
Mining. a fault or offset, as in a vein or bed of ore.

Definition of 'break'

Princeton's WordNet

1. (noun) interruption, break
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"

2. (noun) break, good luck, happy chance
an unexpected piece of good luck
"he finally got his big break"

3. (noun) fault, faulting, geological fault, shift, fracture, break
(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"

4. (noun) rupture, breach, break, severance, rift, falling out
a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
"they hoped to avoid a break in relations"

5. (noun) respite, recess, break, time out
a pause from doing something (as work)
"we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate"

6. (noun) breakage, break, breaking
the act of breaking something
"the breakage was unavoidable"

7. (noun) pause, intermission, break, interruption, suspension
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something

8. (noun) fracture, break
breaking of hard tissue such as bone
"it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall"

9. (noun) break
the occurrence of breaking
"the break in the dam threatened the valley"

10. (noun) break
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. (noun) break
the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool

12. (noun) break, break of serve
(tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving
"he was up two breaks in the second set"

13. (noun) break, interruption, disruption, gap
an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
"it was presented without commercial breaks"; "there was a gap in his account"

14. (noun) break
a sudden dash
"he made a break for the open door"

15. (noun) open frame, break
any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare
"the break in the eighth frame cost him the match"

16. (verb) break, breakout, jailbreak, gaolbreak, prisonbreak, prison-breaking
an escape from jail
"the breakout was carefully planned"

17. (verb) interrupt, break
terminate
"She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty"

18. (verb) break, separate, split up, fall apart, come apart
become separated into pieces or fragments
"The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"

19. (verb) break
render inoperable or ineffective
"You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!"

20. (verb) break, bust
ruin completely
"He busted my radio!"

21. (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"

22. (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"

23. (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"

24. (verb) break
scatter or part
"The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"

25. (verb) break, burst, erupt
force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
"break into tears"; "erupt in anger"

26. (verb) break, break off, discontinue, stop
prevent completion
"stop the project"; "break off the negotiations"

27. (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?"

28. (verb) break in, break
make submissive, obedient, or useful
"The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"

29. (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"

30. (verb) better, break
surpass in excellence
"She bettered her own record"; "break a record"

31. (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"

32. (verb) break
come into being
"light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"

33. (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"

34. (verb) break, break away
interrupt a continued activity
"She had broken with the traditional patterns"

35. (verb) break
make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
"The ranks broke"

36. (verb) break
curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
"The surf broke"

37. (verb) dampen, damp, soften, weaken, break
lessen in force or effect
"soften a shock"; "break a fall"

38. (verb) break
be broken in
"If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"

39. (verb) break
come to an end
"The heat wave finally broke yesterday"

40. (verb) break
vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
"The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"

41. (verb) break
cause to give up a habit
"She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"

42. (verb) break
give up
"break cigarette smoking"

43. (verb) break
come forth or begin from a state of latency
"The first winter storm broke over New York"

44. (verb) break
happen or take place
"Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months"

45. (verb) break
cause the failure or ruin of
"His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright"

46. (verb) break
invalidate by judicial action
"The will was broken"

47. (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"

48. (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"

49. (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"

50. (verb) break
change directions suddenly

51. (verb) break
emerge from the surface of a body of water
"The whales broke"

52. (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"

53. (verb) break dance, break-dance, break
do a break dance
"Kids were break-dancing at the street corner"

54. (verb) break
exchange for smaller units of money
"I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"

55. (verb) break, break up
destroy the completeness of a set of related items
"The book dealer would not break the set"

56. (verb) break
make the opening shot that scatters the balls

57. (verb) break
separate from a clinch, in boxing
"The referee broke the boxers"

58. (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"

59. (verb) break, break off, snap off
break a piece from a whole
"break a branch from a tree"

60. (verb) break
become punctured or penetrated
"The skin broke"

61. (verb) break
pierce or penetrate
"The blade broke her skin"

62. (verb) break, get out, get around
be released or become known; of news
"News of her death broke in the morning"

63. (verb) pause, intermit, break
cease an action temporarily
"We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch"

64. (verb) break
interrupt the flow of current in
"break a circuit"

65. (verb) break
undergo breaking
"The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"

66. (verb) break
find a flaw in
"break an alibi"; "break down a proof"

67. (verb) break
find the solution or key to
"break the code"

68. (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"

69. (verb) break, recrudesce, develop
happen
"Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time"

70. (verb) crack, check, break
become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
"The glass cracked when it was heated"

71. (verb) break
crack; of the male voice in puberty
"his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir"

72. (verb) break
fall sharply
"stock prices broke"

73. (verb) fracture, break
fracture a bone of
"I broke my foot while playing hockey"

74. (verb) break
diminish or discontinue abruptly
"The patient's fever broke last night"

75. (verb) break
weaken or destroy in spirit or body
"His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"

Definition of 'break'

Kernerman English Learner’s Dictionary

1. (noun) break
a temporary stopping of activity
a coffee/lunch break; to take a break from full-time work

2.  break
where sth is broken
a break in the glass

3.  break
a short vacation
students leaving for Spring Break; ***We took a break for a few days.

4.  break
give sb a break
to stop being unpleasant to sb
Give her a break - she's trying her hardest.

5.  break
give me a break
emphasizes annoyance or disbelief
$5000 for a bike? Give me a break!

6. (verb) break
***to separate or make separate into pieces
I dropped my cup and it broke.; Break the candy bar in half.

7.  break
***break sth in half/in two
***to stop functioning or make stop functioning
She broke her camera.; The camera broke.

8.  break
to not follow a rule or law; = disobey
to break the law/rules

9.  break
break a promise
to not do what you said you would do
***You broke your promise to me.

10.  break
***to end, or to stop a situation or activity
to break a habit/routine; An explosion broke the silence.; The drought seemed unlikely to break.

11.  break
***to become or make known
News of his assassination broke around midnight.; Her father had died and someone had to break it to her.

12.  break
to force sb to lose emotional strength
The years of abuse finally broke her.

13.  break
to pause or to have a rest
***We'll break for coffee around 10:30.

14.  break
break even
to have equal profit and costs
***I'll be surprised if we break even this year.

15.  break
break sb's fall
to stop sb from falling directly to the ground
***The branches broke his fall.

16.  break
break free
to escape or to get away
His grip loosened, and I broke free.

17.  break
break sb's heart
to make sb extremely sad
It broke her heart to lose the house.

18.  break
break the ice
to make people feel relaxed at the beginning of a party
***She broke the ice with a joke.

19.  break
break a record
to do sth faster, better, etc. than ever before
to break the world record for sailing around the world

Definition of 'break'

Webster Dictionary

1. (noun) break
see Commutator

2. (verb) break
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

3. (verb) break
to lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods

4. (verb) break
to lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate

5. (verb) break
to infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise

6. (verb) break
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

7. (verb) break
to destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set

8. (verb) break
to destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares

9. (verb) break
to shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments

10. (verb) break
to exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill

11. (verb) break
to destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax

12. (verb) break
to weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind

13. (verb) break
to diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow

14. (verb) break
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

15. (verb) break
to tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle

16. (verb) break
to destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin

17. (verb) break
to destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss

18. (verb) break
to come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder

19. (verb) break
to open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag

20. (verb) break
to burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn

21. (verb) break
to burst forth violently, as a storm

22. (verb) break
to open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking

23. (verb) break
to become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength

24. (verb) break
to be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking

25. (verb) break
to fall in business; to become bankrupt

26. (verb) break
to make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop

27. (verb) break
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

28. (verb) break
to fall out; to terminate friendship

29. (verb) break
an opening made by fracture or disruption

30. (verb) break
an interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship

31. (verb) break
a projection or recess from the face of a building

32. (verb) break
an opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current

33. (verb) break
an interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation

34. (verb) break
an interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc

35. (verb) break
the first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn

36. (verb) break
a large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind

37. (verb) break
a device for checking motion, or for measuring friction. See Brake, n. 9 & 10

Definitions of 'break'

The New Hacker's Dictionary

1. break
1. vt. To cause to be broken (in any sense). “Your latest patch to the editor broke the paragraph commands.”

2. v. (of a program) To stop temporarily, so that it may debugged. The place where it stops is a breakpoint.

3. [techspeak] vi. To send an RS-232 break (two character widths of line high) over a serial comm line.

4. [Unix] vi. To strike whatever key currently causes the tty driver to send SIGINT to the current process. Normally, break (sense 3), delete or control-C does this.

5. break break may be said to interrupt a conversation (this is an example of verb doubling). This usage comes from radio communications, which in turn probably came from landline telegraph/teleprinter usage, as badly abused in the Citizen's Band craze of the early 1980s.

Definition of 'break'

The Standard Electrical Dictionary

1. break
A point where an electric conductor is cut, broken, or opened by a switch or other device, or simply by discontinuity of the wires.

Translation of 'break'

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

Sense: to divide into two or more parts (by force).
Afrikaans: breek	Arabic: يكسر، يقسم	Bulgarian: чупя
Brazilian: quebrar	Czech: rozbít, rozlomit	German: brechen
Danish: brække	Greek: σπάζω, κομματιάζω	Spanish: romper, quebrar
Estonian: katki tegema, murdma, pur	Farsi: شکستن؛ خورد کردن	Finnish: rikkoa
French: briser, casser	Hebrew: לִשבּוֹר	Hindi: बांटना
Croatian: polomiti	Hungarian: (el)tör	Indonesian: memecah
Icelandic: brjóta	Italian: rompere, spezzare	Japanese: こわす
Korean: 여러 부분으로 나누다	Lithuanian: laužyti, daužyti	Latvian: []lauzt; sasist
Malay: pecah	Dutch: breken	Norwegian: bryte, knuse, knekke
Polish: łamać	Persian: شکستن؛ خورد کردن	Pashto: ماتول، کوچنی کول
Portuguese: quebrar	Romanian: a sparge, a sfărâma	Russian: разрушать(ся)
Slovak: zlomiť, rozbiť	Slovenian: razbiti, zlomiti	Serbian: prelomiti
Swedish: bryta, bräcka, knäcka, ha	Thai: แตก	Turkish: kırmak
Taiwanese: (以外力)分成兩個或多個	Ukrainian: ламати(ся); розривати(ся)	Urdu: توڑ دینا
Vietnamese: chia ra	Chinese: 破碎
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