Definition of break in English English dictionary
- To counter-attack
- A rest or pause, usually from work; a breaktime
Let’s take a five-minute break.
- To design or use a powerful (yet legal) strategy that unbalances the game in a player's favor
Letting white have three extra queens would break chess.
- Of a bone, to crack or fracture due to a physical strain, such as a collision
His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest.
- An instance of breaking something into two pieces
The femur has a clean break and so should heal easily.
- To arrive
Morning has broken.
- To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily
Let's break for lunch.
- A temporary split (with a romantic partner)
I think we need a break.
- An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game
- A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention: big break, lucky break
- To demote, to reduce the military rank of
Not long after this event, Clausen became involved in another disciplinary situation and was broken to private—the only one to win the Medal of Honor in Vietnam.
- To change a steady state abruptly
With the mood broken, what we had been doing seemed pretty silly.
- To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (an record), setting a new record
The policeman broke sixty on a residential street in his hurry to catch the thief.
- To arrange a temporary split (with a romantic partner)
- To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar
specifically To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination, or the like.
- to end
The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek.
- To end (a connection), to disconnect
I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back.
- A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue
The fiddle break was amazing, it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note.
- To divide (something, often money) into smaller units
The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers.
- To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water. right|thumb|196px|A wave breaking
- A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water)
The final break in the Greenmount area is Kirra Point.
- An act of escaping
prison break.
- To end up in two or more pieces that cannot easily be reassembled
If the vase falls to the floor, it might break.
- To do that which is forbidden by (a rule or rules)
break one's word.
- a change; the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather
- :
backgammon, transitive To remove one of the two men on (a point).
- To cause to end up in two or more pieces that cannot easily be reassembled
She broke the vase.
- Of a voice, to alter in type: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack
His voice breaks (or cracks) when he gets emotional.
- To cause an animal to lose its will, to tame
You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden.
- To cause, accidentally or intentionally, (a bone) to crack under physical strain
He slipped on the ice and broke his leg.
- To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object not hit something else beneath
He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall.
- To cause (a person) to lose his spirit or will; to crush the spirits of; to ruin (a person) emotionally
Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war.
- To cause to stop functioning properly or altogether
Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions.
- To disclose or make known an item of news, etc
I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back.
- To become audible suddenly
Like the crash of thunderbolts , the sound of musquetry broke over the lawn, .
- To cause (a habit) to no longer exist
I've got to break this habit I have of biting my nails.
- The beginning (of the morning)
at the break of day.
- To demulsify
- To ruin financially
The recession broke some small businesses.
- A physical space that opens up in something or between two things
He waited minutes for a break in the traffic to cross the highway.
- To stop functioning properly or altogether
On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke.
- a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate"
- {n} an opening, breach, failure, pause, line
- {v} to part by force, dash to pieces, tame, become a bankrupt, ruin, fall out, violate, dawn as the day, cashier, decline in strength
- To cause a person or animal to lose his/her/its will, usually obtained by means of torture.right
- To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop
- be broken in; "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"
- A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind
- make the opening shot that scatters the balls destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set"
- To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss
- exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"
- (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving; "he was up two breaks in the second set"
- when a team quickly advances the ball down the field in an attempt to get its players near the opponent's goal before the defenders have a chance to retreat; also called an advantage
- A projection or recess from the face of a building
- If you break your journey somewhere, you stop there for a short time so that you can have a rest. Because of the heat we broke our journey at a small country hotel
- To break someone means to destroy their determination and courage, their success, or their career. He never let his jailers break him Ken's wife, Vicki, said: `He's a broken man.' = destroy
- 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. In 1959, Akihito broke with imperial tradition by marrying a commoner They were determined to break from precedent They have yet to break the link with the trade unions. Break is also a noun. Making a completely clean break with the past, the couple got rid of all their old furniture
- change directions suddenly invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken"
- lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall"
- become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated"
- Of a bone, to cause to crack under physical strain
- The instruments that are named are the ones that carry on playing, for example a fiddle break implies that the fiddle is the most prominent instrument playing during the break
- The moment and/or location at which a series circuit is opened and made discontinuous Brownout A condition in which the supply voltage is insufficient to power the load Circuit A closed path followed or capable of being followed by an electric current
- separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers"
- To fall out; to terminate friendship
- To make the first shot
- A rapid and sharp price decline in pricing
- find the solution or key to; "break the code"
- When a boy's voice breaks, it becomes deeper and sounds more like a man's voice. He sings with the strained discomfort of someone whose voice hasn't quite broken
- If you break a rule, promise, or agreement, you do something that you should not do according to that rule, promise, or agreement. We didn't know we were breaking the (Hukuk) broken promises
- break a law
- To violate a law
- break a leg
- A wish for a successful performance; primarily a valediction to an actor wishing him or her a successful theatrical stage performance
- break a leg
- To perform well in a theatrical production or comparable endeavor
Go out there and break a leg tonight. Put on a great show!.
- break a sweat
- To put effort into something
He succeeded effortlessly, without breaking a sweat.
- break a sweat
- To start sweating
Consider, for instance, that Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Marat Safin and even the supposedly out-of-sorts Lleyton Hewitt all won the opening set of their first-round matches 6-0 before barely breaking a sweat in the two sets that followed.
- break away
- to leave suddenly
- break away
- to become separated, literally or figuratively
- break bread
- To take part in Holy Communion
In baptism we make covenant; in communion we renew covenant week by week. . . . After offering prayers of thanksgiving, together we break bread and drink from the cup.
- break bread
- To eat a meal, especially to eat a shared meal with friends
At last it was decided that he should take her, reaching the place about the hour of lunch, so that he might again break bread in her father's house.
- break bulk
- Unload a ship
- break bulk
- Take part of a ship's cargo out of its hold
- break down
- to decay
Leaves and grass will break down into compost faster if you keep them moist.
- break down
- to become unstable, mentally or otherwise
She is back to work now, after her break down.
- break down
- to fail
I am afraid my computer will break down if I try to run it at too high a speed.
- break down
- to give more detail
If you don't understand, ask him to break down the numbers for you.
- break even
- To stay the same; to neither advance nor regress
It's a lot of work just to break even and keep the weeds down.
- break even
- To neither gain nor lose money
After an entire night playing poker, he nearly broke even.
- break free
- To liberate oneself; to free oneself
- break ground
- To begin digging in the earth at the start of a new construction, or, originally, for cultivation
They broke ground on the new library last month.
- break ground
- To lift off the sea bottom when being weighed
- break ground
- To initiate a new venture, or to advance beyond previous achievements
The invention breaks ground in its programming and its structure.
- break in
- To enter a place by force or other illicit means
Someone broke in and stole his radio.
- break in
- To tame; make obedient; to train to follow orders of the owner
Captain had been broken in and trained for an army horse; his first owner was an officer of cavalry going out to the Crimean war. He said he quite enjoyed the training with all the other horses, trotting together, turning together, to the right hand or the left, halting at the word of command, or dashing forward at full speed at the sound of the trumpet or signal of the officer.
- break in
- To cause (something, or someone, new) to function more naturally through use or wear
These shoes will be more comfortable after I have broken them in.
- break into
- To successfully enter a profession or business
He hopes to break into show business.
- break into
- To open or begin to use
I finally broke into the second package of cookies.
- break into
- To enter illegally or by force, especially in order to commit a crime
Somebody broke into his car and stole his tools and CDs.
- break into
- To begin suddenly
The horse broke into a gallop as they neared the barn.
- break loose
- to escape, to free oneself
- break new ground
- To begin excavating and levelling earth for a new building, or, originally, for cultivation
- break new ground
- By extension, to initiate a new venture
- break off
- To end abruptly, either temporarily or permanently
Then the conversation broke off, and there was little more talking, only a noise of men going backwards and forwards, and of putting down of kegs and the hollow gurgle of good liquor being poured from breakers into the casks.
- break off
- To remove a piece from a whole by breaking or snapping
The bees came and found no one but the Woodman to sting, so they flew at him and broke off all their stings against the tin, without hurting the Woodman at all. And as bees cannot live when their stings are broken that was the end of the black bees, and they lay scattered thick about the Woodman, like little heaps of fine coal.
- break one off
- an 1800s baseball term meaning to throw a curve ball
- break one's arm patting oneself on the back
- To be very full of oneself. Often used as a sarcastic caution - "don't break your arm patting yourself on the back"
We're the best football team in the state! - Careful, dude, don't break your arm patting yourself on the back.
- break one's duck
- To score one's first run in an innings
- break one's duck
- To do something for the first time
- break one's fast
- To eat breakfast; to eat the first meal of the day after a night of not eating or to conclude any period of fasting by consuming food
Thinking that it might be Lord Carbury, and that, if so, he would probably not wait until half past nine to break his fast, she ran gaily off.
- break out
- to bring out, use, or present
Break out the bubbly and celebrate.
- break out
- To escape, especially forcefully or defiantly
They broke out of prison in the middle of the night.
- break out
- To begin suddenly; to emerge in a certain condition
The pretty lips pouted awhile but then she glanced up and broke out into a joyous little laugh which had in it all the freshness of a young May morning.
- break out
- to separate from a bundle
Break out the cables from the harness once they are inside the frame.
- break point
- A situation in which if the receiver wins the next point, (s)he will win the game (but not the set or match)
- break points
- plural form of break point
- break ranks
- To publicly disagree with one's own group or organization
- break ranks
- To march or charge out of the designated order in a military unit
- break room
- a room at a business which is set aside for coffee breaks, snacks, lunches, etc.; also called lunchroom
- break rooms
- plural form of break room
- break someone's heart
- To cause a person to feel grief or sadness
Baby you're not that kind.
- break the back of
- To achieve the greater part of some project
I've broken the back of painting the shed - I'll finish it after lunch.
- break the bank
- To win more money than is available to be paid
- break the bank
- To exhaust one's financial resources
- break the buck
- Fall below the value of one dollar per share.“” listed on page 261 of The SmartMoney Guide to Long-Term Investing, Nellie S. Huang, Peter Finch, and James B. Stewart (2002; ; ISBN 0471274925, 978-0471274926)
We were likely going to see more funds halt redemptions and break the buck. The insurance program is part of a wider rescue package.
- break the deadlock
- To score the first goal or point in a competition
- break the fourth wall
- To apparently communicate with reality directly, such as when characters of literature comment on the existence of a reader
- break the ice
- To start to get to know people, by avoiding awkwardness
Including a few fun details in large group introductions can be a great way to break the ice.
- break the mold
- To depart from a traditional pattern
- break the mold
- To make it impossible for an identical copy to be made
- break the mould
- Alternative spelling of break the mold
- break the seal
- When consuming alcohol, to urinate for the first time, which leads to needing to urinate more and more often
- break up
- To break or separate into pieces; to disintegrate or come apart
It broke up when it hit the ground.
- break up
- Of a school, to close for the holidays at the end of term
- break up
- Of a telephone conversation, to cease to be understandable because of a bad connection
You're breaking up. Can you repeat that?.
- break up
- To end a relationship
She broke up with her boyfriend last week.
- break up
- To stop a fight; to separate people who are fighting
The police came in to break up the disturbance.
- break up
- To break or separate into pieces
Break up the cheese and put it in the salad.
- break up
- To dissolve; to part
So the meeting broke up, and the torchlight grew dimmer, and died away as it had come in a red flicker on the roof, and the footsteps sounded fainter as they went up the passage, until the vault was left to the dead men and me.
- break water
- To rise up partially out of the water when swimming underwater
- break wind
- To flatulate; fart; to expel gases generated during digestion through the anus
- break with
- To cease having a positive connection with (a person, group, movement, etc)
You see, Ferdinand Point was the first wave in a culinary revolution, Jeremy went on. He broke with French formality; he broke with fat and weighty flavours. He kicked free of the past .
- break-building
- The act or skill of scoring points by making an interrupted series of pots
- break-bulk
- Of cargo, heterogeneous in size, shape, and handling requirements; neither bulk nor containerized
Break-bulk cargo is characterized by its multiplicity and diversity. ... In break-bulk service, a cargo ship might carry barrels of cooking oil, ... cartons..., bales ..., bags ..., and so on.
- break-even point
- The point where total costs equal total sales revenue and the company neither makes a profit nor suffers a loss. Often abbreviated as BEP
- break-in
- An act of entering somewhere with the intent to steal or commit some other offence
There was a break-in at the shop; everything was taken.
- break-up
- Alternative spelling of break up
- Break in the case
- A new discovery in a case
- break a leg!
- good luck! (often said to actors before a performance)
- break one's heart
- disappoint someone very much, cause someone grief
- break through
- If you break through a barrier, you succeed in forcing your way through it. Protesters tried to break through a police cordon About fifteen inmates broke through onto the roof
- break bad
- 1. (colloquial, of an event or of one's fortunes) To go wrong; to go downhill. 2. (colloquial, chiefly Southern US and Midwestern US, of a person) To go bad; to turn toward immorality or crime
- break bad
- (Ev ile ilgili) Go wild, get crazy, let loose
- break one's cherry
- Take or lose one's virginity
- break someone's fall
- Cushion a falling person; to lessen the impact of a falling person
- break off
- cut off, stop abruptly; break off ties; break down; isolate, disconnect
- break the heart
- crack the heart into pieces (make someone feel very sorry for you or disappointed in you)
- a break
- fracture
- break a sweat
- (deyim) Begin to sweat or perspire, work up a sweat
For exercise to be beneficial, the athlete must break a sweat.
- break even
- have expenses equal to profits
- break free
- Get away by overcoming restraints or constraints
- break out
- begin showing a rash or other skin disorder
- Broken
- jiggered
- Broken
- cunted
- Broken
- broke
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
- If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
Tom fixed the broken radio.
- Tom repaired the broken radio.
- Broken
- fucked
- break a sweat
- begin to perspire; work hard, exert oneself
- break apart
- break up or separate; "The country is disunifying"; "Yugoslavia broke apart after 1989"
- break apart
- take apart into its constituent pieces
- break apart
- break violently or noisily; smash
- break away
- If you break away from someone who is trying to hold you or catch you, you free yourself and run away. I broke away from him and rushed out into the hall Willie Hamilton broke away early in the race. = cut loose
- break away
- interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns"
- break away
- run away, escape; disconnect, cut off ties, isolate oneself
- 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"
- break away
- flee; take to one's heels; cut and run; "If you see this man, run!"; "The burglars escaped before the police showed up"
- break away
- break off (a piece from a whole); "Her tooth chipped"
- break away
- withdraw from an organization or communion; "After the break up of the Soviet Union, many republics broke away"
- break away
- If you break away from something or someone that restricts you or controls you, you succeed in freeing yourself from them. Aboriginal art has finally gained recognition and broken away from being labelled as `primitive' or `exotic'
- break down
- When a substance breaks down or when something breaks it down, a biological or chemical process causes it to separate into the substances which make it up. Over time, the protein in the eggshell breaks down into its constituent amino acids The oil is attacked by naturally occurring microbes which break it down
- break down
- If you break down a door or barrier, you hit it so hard that it falls to the ground. An unruly mob broke down police barricades and stormed the courtroom Firemen were called after his father failed to break the door down
- break down
- make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features; "analyze a specimen"; "analyze a sentence"; "analyze a chemical compound"
- break down
- approval To break down barriers or prejudices that separate people or restrict their freedom means to change people's attitudes so that the barriers or prejudices no longer exist. His early experience enabled him to break down barriers between Scottish Catholics and Protestants. see also breakdown, broken-down
- break down
- cause to fall or collapse lose control of one's emotions; "When she heard that she had not passed the exam, she lost it completely"; "When her baby died, she snapped
- break down
- collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack
- break down
- lose control of one's emotions; "When she heard that she had not passed the exam, she lost it completely"; "When her baby died, she snapped"
- break down
- If someone breaks down, they lose control of themselves and start crying. Because he was being so kind and concerned, I broke down and cried
- break down
- If a discussion, relationship, or system breaks down, it fails because of a problem or disagreement. Talks with business leaders broke down last night Paola's marriage broke down
- break down
- fall apart; "the building crimbled after the explosion"; "Negociations broke down"
- break down
- cause to fall or collapse
- break down
- To break down something such as an idea or statement means to separate it into smaller parts in order to make it easier to understand or deal with. The report breaks down the results region by region These rules tell us how a sentence is broken down into phrases
- break down
- collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack make ineffective; "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination"
- break down
- If a machine or a vehicle breaks down, it stops working. Their car broke down
- break down
- make ineffective; "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination"
- 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"
- break down
- separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts
- break down
- break, collapse under its own weight; spoil, decompose
- break down
- degrade
- break even
- finish with no losses; end in a tie, end with an equal score
- break even
- This is a term used to describe a point at which revenues equal costs (fixed and variable)
- break even
- attain a level at which there is neither gain nor loss, as in business, gambling, or a competitive sport
- break even
- attain a level at which there is neither gain nor loss, as in business, gambling, or a competitive sport make neither profit nor loss
- break even
- make neither profit nor loss
- break even
- When a company stops losing money after it starts up
- break even
- the sales level where a company makes neither a profit nor a loss
- break free
- escape, remove obstacles or bindings
- break in
- If someone, usually a thief, breaks in, they get into a building by force. Masked robbers broke in and made off with $8,000 see also break-in
- break in
- make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"
- break in
- start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role intrude on uninvited; "The nosy couple broke in on our conversation"
- break in
- {f} enter forcibly; enter a building or room or a person's house by means of force (with the intention to steal or commit a violent act); interrupt a person while he is speaking; train a beginner; make something more natural through use or wear
- break in
- If you break in on someone's conversation or activity, you interrupt them. O'Leary broke in on his thoughts Mrs Southern listened keenly, occasionally breaking in with pertinent questions `She told you to stay here,' Mike broke in. = butt in
- break in
- break so as to call inward; "He broke in the door"
- break in
- intrude on uninvited; "The nosy couple broke in on our conversation"
- break in
- break into a conversation; "her husband always chimes in, even when he is not involved in the conversation"
- break in
- enter someone's 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!
- break in
- If you break someone in, you get them used to a new job or situation. The band are breaking in a new backing vocalist
- break in
- start in a certain activity, enterprise, or role
- break in
- If you break in something new, you gradually use or wear it for longer and longer periods until it is ready to be used or worn all the time. When breaking in an engine, you probably should refrain from high speed for the first thousand miles
- break into
- If you break into a profession or area of business, especially one that is difficult to succeed in, you manage to have some success in it. She finally broke into films after an acclaimed stage career
- break into
- If someone breaks into something they suddenly start doing it. For example if someone breaks into a run they suddenly start running, and if they break into song they suddenly start singing. The moment she was out of sight she broke into a run Then, breaking into a smile, he said, `I brought you something.'
- break into
- express or utter spontaneously; "break into a yodel"; "break into a song"; "break into tears"
- break into
- If someone breaks into a building, they get into it by force. There was no one nearby who might see him trying to break into the house
- break into
- change pace; "The dancers broke into a cha-cha"; "The horse broke into a gallop"
