break
pronunciation
How to pronounce break in British English:
UK [breɪk]
How to pronounce break in American English:
US [breɪk]
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- Noun:
- some abrupt occurrence that interrupts
- an unexpected piece of good luck
- (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other
- a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
- a pause from doing something (as work)
- the act of breaking something
- a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
- breaking of hard tissue such as bone
- the occurrence of breaking
- the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool
- (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving
- an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
- a sudden dash
- any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare
- an escape from jail
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- Verb:
- terminate
- become separated into pieces or fragments
- destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
- render inoperable or ineffective
- ruin completely
- act in disregard of laws and rules
- move away or escape suddenly
- scatter or part
- force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
- prevent completion
- enter someone's property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act
- make submissive, obedient, or useful
- fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns
- surpass in excellence
- make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret
- come into being
- stop operating or functioning
- interrupt a continued activity
- make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
- curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
- lessen in force or effect
- be broken in
- come to an end
- vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
- cause to give up a habit
- give up
- come forth or begin from a state of latency
- happen or take place
- cause the failure or ruin of
- invalidate by judicial action
- discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
- assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
- reduce to bankruptcy
- change directions suddenly
- emerge from the surface of a body of water
- break down, literally or metaphorically
- do a break dance
- exchange for smaller units of money
- destroy the completeness of a set of related items
- make the opening shot that scatters the balls
- separate from a clinch, in boxing
- go to pieces
- break a piece from a whole
- become punctured or penetrated
- pierce or penetrate
- be released or become known; of news
- cease an action temporarily
- interrupt the flow of current in
- undergo breaking
- find a flaw in
- find the solution or key to
- change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another
- happen
- become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
- of the male voice in puberty
- fall sharply
- fracture a bone of
- diminish or discontinue abruptly
- weaken or destroy in spirit or body
Word Origin
- break
- break: [OE] Break comes via prehistoric Germanic *brekan from the Indo-European base *bhreg-, which also produced Latin frangere ‘break’ (source of English fraction and fracture). Possibly related words include brake, bark ‘sound made by a dog’, and brigade, while the Germanic derived noun *brecho passed into English via Old French as breach [14] (Old English had the parallel form bryce, which died out). The application of broke (originally a variant of the past participle broken) to ‘insolvency’ dates from the 18th century.=> bark, brake, breach, brigade, fraction, fracture
- break (v.)
- Old English brecan "to break, shatter, burst; injure, violate, destroy, curtail; break into, rush into; burst forth, spring out; subdue, tame" (class IV strong verb; past tense bræc, past participle brocen), from Proto-Germanic *brekan (cognates: Old Frisian breka, Dutch breken, Old High German brehhan, German brechen, Gothic brikan), from PIE root *bhreg- "to break" (see fraction). Most modern senses were in Old English. In reference to the heart from early 13c. Meaning "to disclose" is from early 13c. Break bread "share food" (with) is from late 14c. Break the ice is c. 1600, in reference to the "coldness" of encounters of strangers. Break wind first attested 1550s. To break (something) out (1890s) probably is an image from dock work, of freeing cargo before unloading it. Ironic theatrical good luck formula break a leg has parallels in German Hals- und Beinbruch "break your neck and leg," and Italian in bocca al lupo. Evidence of a highly superstitious craft (see Macbeth).
- break (n.)
- c. 1300, "act of breaking," from break (v.). Sense of "short interval between spells of work" (originally between lessons at school) is from 1861. Meaning "stroke of luck" is attested by 1911, probably an image from billiards (where the break that starts the game is attested from 1865). Meaning "stroke of mercy" is from 1914. Musical sense, "improvised passage, solo" is attested from 1920s in jazz.
Example
- 1. Conservatism will not break this cycle of decline .
- 2. Let 's take a coffee break , shall we ?
- 3. The big break took more than a year .
- 4. Friends are always ready to help you break something !
- 5. The coalition could break down before the five years expire .