Definition of 'break'
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present
tense breaks
, present participle breaking
, past tense broke
, past participle broken
1. verb
When an object breaks or when you break it, it suddenly separates into two or more pieces, often because it has been hit
or dropped.
2. verb
If you break a part of your body such as your leg, your arm, or your nose, or if a bone breaks, you are injured because a bone cracks or splits.
3. verb
If a surface, cover, or seal breaks or if something breaks it, a hole or tear is made in it, so that a substance can pass through.
Once you've broken the seal of a bottle there's no way you can put it back together
again. [VERB noun]
4. verb
[Also V-ed]
5. verb
If you break a rule, promise, or agreement, you do something that you should not do according
to that rule, promise, or agreement.
6. verb
If you break free or loose, you free yourself from something or escape from it.
7. verb
If someone breaks something, especially a difficult or unpleasant situation that has existed for some time, they end it or
change it.
The country is heading towards elections which may break the party's long hold on
power. [VERB noun]
8. verb
9. countable noun
10. verb
If you break with a group of people or a traditional way of doing things, or you break your connection with them, you stop being involved with that group or stop doing
things in that way.
[Also VERB noun] 11. verb
If you break a habit or if someone breaks you of it, you no longer have that habit.
The professor hoped to break the students of the habit of looking for easy answers. [VERB noun + of]
12. verb
13. verb
If someone breaks for a short period of time, they rest or change from what they are doing for a short
period.
14. countable noun
A break is a short period of time when you have a rest or a change from what you are doing,
especially if you are working or if you are in a boring or unpleasant situation.
15. See also lunch break, tea break
16. countable noun
A break is a short holiday.
17. verb
If you break your journey somewhere, you stop there for a short time so that you can have a rest.
18. verb
To break the force of something such as a blow or fall means to weaken its effect, for example
by getting in the way of it.
19. verb
21. countable noun
A break is a lucky opportunity that someone gets to achieve something.
[informal]
23. See also record-breaking
24. verb
25. See also daybreak
26. verb
27. verb
If you break a secret code, you work out how to understand it.
28. verb
29. verb
When a boy's voice breaks, it becomes deeper and sounds more like a man's voice.
30. verb
31. verb
In tennis, if you break your opponent's serve, you win a game in which your opponent is serving.
32. See also broke, broken, heartbreak, heartbreaking, heartbroken, outbreak
33.
34.
See give sb a break
35.
37. to break cover
38. to break even
42. to break the ice
43. to break ranks
44. to break wind
Phrasal verbs:
See break away
See break down
See break in
See break into
See break off
See break out
See break through
See break up
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
break
Word Frequency
break in British English
verbWord forms: breaks, breaking, broke or broken
1.
to separate or become separated into two or more pieces
this cup is broken
3.
to crack or become cracked without separating
4.
to burst or cut the surface of (skin, etc)
7. (transitive)
to fail to observe (an agreement, promise, law, etc)
to break one's word
8. (foll by with)
to discontinue an association (with)
12.
to bring or come to an end
the summer weather broke at last
13. (transitive)
to bring to an end by or as if by force
to break a strike
14. (when intr, often foll by out)
to escape (from)
they broke jail
they broke out of jail
18. (transitive; often foll by in)
19. (transitive; often foll by of)
to cause (a person) to give up (a habit)
this cure will break you of smoking
22. (transitive)
to lose the order of
to break ranks
24. (when intr, foll by into)
to obtain, give, or receive smaller units in exchange for; change
to break a ten-pound note
27. (intransitive)
to come into being
light broke over the mountains
28. (intr; foll by into or out into)
a.
to burst into song, laughter, etc
b.
to change to a faster pace
29. (transitive)
to open with explosives
to break a safe
30. (intransitive) (of waves)
a. (often foll by against)
to strike violently
31. (intransitive)
(esp of fish) to appear above the surface of the water
32. (intransitive)
(of the amniotic fluid surrounding an unborn baby) to be released when the amniotic sac ruptures in the first stage of labour
her waters have broken
33. (intransitive) informal, mainly US
to turn out in a specified manner
things are breaking well
35. (intransitive)
to make a sudden effort, as in running, horse racing, etc
41. (intransitive) music
a.
(of the male voice) to undergo a change in register, quality, and range at puberty
b.
(of the voice or some instruments) to undergo a change in tone, quality, etc, when
changing registers
42. (intransitive) phonetics
(of a vowel) to turn into a diphthong, esp as a development in the language
43. (transitive)
44. (transitive)
to interrupt the flow of current in (an electrical circuit)
Compare make1 (sense 27)46. See break bread
47. See break camp
48. See break ground
49. See break one's back
50. See break the back of
51. See break the bank
52. See break the ice
53. See break the mould
54. See break service
55. See break wind
noun
56.
the act or result of breaking; fracture
57.
a crack formed as the result of breaking
61.
any sudden interruption in a continuous action
65.
(esp in a stock exchange) a sudden and substantial decline in prices
67. billiards, snooker
a.
a series of successful shots during one turn
b.
the points scored in such a series
68. billiards, snooker
a.
the opening shot with the cue ball that scatters the placed balls
b.
the right to take this first shot
69. Also called: service break, break of serve tennis
the act or instance of breaking an opponent's service
70.
one of the intervals in a sporting contest
71. horse racing
the start of a race
an even break
72.
(in tenpin bowling) failure to knock down all the pins after the second attempt
74.
a discontinuity in an electrical circuit
75.
access to a radio channel by a citizens' band operator
76. a variant spelling of brake1 (sense 6)
exclamation
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
Old English brecan; related to Old Frisian breka, Gothic brikan, Old High German brehhan, Latin frangere Sanskrit bhráj bursting forth
Word Frequency
break in American English
verb transitiveWord forms: broke, ˈbroken, ˈbreaking
1.
to cause to come apart by force; split or crack sharply into pieces; smash; burst
2.
a.
to cut open the surface of (soil, the skin, etc.)
b.
to fracture a bone of
4.
to make unusable or inoperative by cracking, disrupting, etc.
7.
to lower in rank or grade; demote
8.
a.
to reduce to poverty or bankruptcy
b.
to ruin the chance for success of
c.
to wreck the health, spirit, etc. of
9.
to surpass (a record)
10.
to fail to follow the terms of (a law, promise, agreement, etc.); violate
11.
a.
to open or enter by force
now chiefly in break and enterb.
to escape from by force
to break prison
12.
to disrupt the order or completeness of; make irregular
the troops broke formation and ran
13.
to interrupt (a journey, electric circuit, etc.)
14.
to reduce the force of by interrupting (a fall, the wind, etc.)
15.
to bring to a sudden end
to break a tie
16.
a.
to make or create (a path, way, etc.) as by removing obstructions
b.
to cut through or penetrate (silence, darkness, etc.)
17.
to make known; tell; disclose
19.
to make (a will) invalid by legal process
20.
to prove (an alibi) to be false
21.
to begin; open; start
22.
to exchange (a bill or coin) for smaller units
24. Tennis
to win a game from (an opponent who is serving)
verb intransitive
25.
to split into pieces; come apart; burst
26.
to scatter; disperse
to break and run
27.
to force one's way (through obstacles or resistance)
28.
to quarrel; stop associating (with)
29.
to become unusable or inoperative; go out of order
30.
to suffer a sudden fall in prices, financial condition, etc.
31.
to change suddenly, as by a sharp rise, fall, turn, shift, etc.
his voice broke; the hot spell broke
32.
a.
to move away suddenly
the base runner broke for second
b.
to move apart, or withdraw, from a clinch in boxing
34.
to begin suddenly to utter, perform, etc.
with into, forth in, or out in to break into song
35.
to come suddenly into being, evidence, or general knowledge
day was breaking; the story broke
36.
to appear suddenly above water, as a periscope, fish, etc.
37. US
to stop activity temporarily
we broke for lunch
39.
to suffer a collapse of health, vitality, spirit, etc.
40.
to change into a diphthong
said of vowels43. Informal
to happen in a certain way
things were breaking badly
noun
44.
a breaking open or apart; breach; fracture
46.
the result of a breaking; broken place; separation; crack
47.
a beginning or appearance
the break of day
48.
an interruption of a regular or continuous arrangement, action, etc.
50.
a breach in friendly relations
51.
a sudden change, as in weather
52. US
an escape, as from prison
53. US
a sudden lowering or drop, as of prices
54.
an imperfection; flaw
55.
an unbroken series or sequence, as of points in billiards
56. US
the opening shot in a game of pocket billiards, in which the cue ball must come into
contact with at least one ball in the rack; often, a shot that scatters the racked balls
58. US
a.
a piece of luck, often specif. of good luck
b.
an advantage or opportunity
c.
exceptional or favorable treatment
59. Music
a.
the point where one register changes to another
b.
the abrupt change in quality of a voice or instrument at this point
c.
in jazz, a brief, usually improvised passage by one band member who continues to
play while the others stop
60. Printing
a.
a space between paragraphs
b.
the place at which a column or page of text stops, to be continued as on another
column or page
c.
a point at which a word is divided, as at the end of a line
Idioms:
SYNONYMY NOTE: break, the most general of these terms, expresses their basic idea of separating into pieces
as a result of impact, stress, etc.; , smash, crash1 add connotations of suddenness, violence, and noise; , crush suggests a crumpling or pulverizing pressure; , shatter, sudden fragmentation and a scattering of pieces; , crack1, incomplete separation of parts or a sharp, snapping noise in breaking; , split, separation lengthwise, as along the direction of grain or layers; , fracture, the breaking of a hard or rigid substance, as bone or rock; , splinter, the splitting of wood, etc. into long, thin, sharp pieces. All of these terms are
used figuratively to imply great force or damage [to break someone's heart, smash someone's hopes, crush the opposition, shatter someone's nerves, etc.]Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Examples of 'break' in a sentence
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In other languages
break
- American English: break /ˈbreɪk/
- Arabic: كَسْر
- Brazilian Portuguese: fratura
- Chinese: 弄断
- Croatian: prijelom
- Czech: přestávka
- Danish: brud
- Dutch: breuk
- European Spanish: fractura
- Finnish: murtuma
- French: cassure
- German: Bruch
- Greek: σπάσιμο
- Italian: frattura
- Japanese: 破壊
- Korean: 골절
- Norwegian: pause
- Polish: złamanie
- European Portuguese: fractura
- Romanian: ruptură
- Russian: перерыв
- Latin American Spanish: ruptura
- Swedish: rast
- Thai: การแตกหัก
- Turkish: kırık
- Ukrainian: перелом
- Vietnamese: sự vỡ
British English: break
/breɪk/ VERB
smash When something breaks, or when you break it, it goes into pieces.
I dropped a plate and it broke.
- American English: break /ˈbreɪk/
- Arabic: يَكْسِر
- Brazilian Portuguese: quebrar
- Chinese: 打破
- Croatian: slomiti
- Czech: rozbít
- Danish: brække
- Dutch: breken
- European Spanish: romper
- Finnish: rikkoa
- French: casser
- German: brechen
- Greek: σπάω
- Italian: rompere
- Japanese: 割る
- Korean: ...을 깨다 금이 가다
- Norwegian: brekke
- Polish: złamać
- European Portuguese: quebrar
- Romanian: a sparge
- Russian: прерывать
- Latin American Spanish: romper
- Swedish: ha sönder
- Thai: แตก, หัก
- Turkish: kırmak
- Ukrainian: розбивати
- Vietnamese: làm vỡ
British English: break
/breɪk/ VERB
stop working If a machine breaks, or if you break it, it stops working.
My brother broke the television.
- American English: break /ˈbreɪk/
- Arabic: يَكْسِرُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: quebrar
- Chinese: 弄坏
- Croatian: razviti
- Czech: rozbít (se)stroj
- Danish: ødelægge
- Dutch: kapot gaan
- European Spanish: romper
- Finnish: rikkoa
- French: arrêter arrêter de fonctionner
- German: brechen
- Greek: χαλώ
- Italian: rompere
- Japanese: 壊れる/壊す
- Korean: 중단하다
- Norwegian: ødelegge
- Polish: zepsuć
- European Portuguese: estragar
- Romanian: a se strica
- Russian: сломать
- Latin American Spanish: romper fallar
- Swedish: gå sönder
- Thai: ทำลาย, หัก, เสีย, ชำรุด
- Turkish: bozmak
- Ukrainian: ламати
- Vietnamese: hỏng hóc
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Definition of break from the Collins English Dictionary
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