break
1. [ verb ] terminate
Synonyms: interrupt
Examples:

"She interrupted her pregnancy" "break a lucky streak" "break the cycle of poverty"

Related terms: end end cut_short freeze
2. [ verb ] become separated into pieces or fragments
Synonyms: separate come_apart fall_apart split_up
Examples:

"The figurine broke" "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"

Related terms: change_integrity burst snap smash puncture burst break_up crush ladder decompose fault
3. [ verb ] render inoperable or ineffective
Examples:

"You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!"

Related terms: damage fail breakage
4. [ verb ] destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
Examples:

"He broke the glass plate" "She broke the match"

Related terms: separate smash fracture break_in shatter
5. [ verb ] ruin completely
Synonyms: bust
Examples:

"He busted my radio!"

Related terms: repair destroy break_down bust_up sever analyze disassemble disassemble chip breakage buster
6. [ verb ] act in disregard of laws and rules
Synonyms: violate transgress breach go_against infract offend
Examples:

"offend all laws of humanity" "violate the basic laws or human civilization" "break a law"

Related terms: disrespect sin trespass sin conflict trespass misdemeanor breach wrongdoer evildoing
7. [ verb ] scatter or part
Examples:

"The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"

Related terms: disperse
8. [ verb ] force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
Synonyms: burst erupt
Examples:

"break into tears" "erupt in anger"

Related terms: express_emotion
9. [ verb ] prevent completion
Synonyms: stop break_off discontinue
Examples:

"stop the project" "break the silence"

Related terms: end end interrupt leave_off bog_down fracture stop
10. [ verb ] move away or escape suddenly
Synonyms: break_away break_out
Examples:

"The horses broke from the stable" "Three inmates broke jail" "Nobody can break out--this prison is high security"

Related terms: escape
11. [ verb ] make submissive, obedient, or useful, as of wild animals or new items
Synonyms: break_in
Examples:

: "The horse was tough to break" used metaphorically for people

Related terms: tame domesticate
12. [ noun ] some abrupt occurrence that interrupts
Synonyms: abrupt_change interruption
Examples:

"the telephone is an annoying interruption" "there was a break in the action when a player was hurt"

Related terms: happening eclipse dislocation suspension punctuation
13. [ verb ] (criminal law) enter someone's property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act
Synonyms: break_in
Examples:

"Someone broke in while I was on vacation" "They broke into my car and stole my radio!"

Related terms: trespass housebreaking
14. [ verb ] make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret
Synonyms: disclose reveal expose declare discover give_away let_out divulge let_on impart bring_out
Examples:

"The auction house would not disclose the price" "She won't reveal her age" "bring out the truth" "he broke the news to her"

Related terms: tell betray confide tattle leak spring blow spring muckrake out reveal blackwash come_out_of_the_closet discovery revelation disclosure exposure conveyance divulgence expose
15. [ verb ] surpass in excellence
Synonyms: better
Examples:

"She bettered her own record" "break a record"

Related terms: surpass better
16. [ noun ] an unexpected piece of good luck
Synonyms: happy_chance good_luck
Examples:

"he finally got his big break"

Related terms: accident
17. [ verb ] come into being
Examples:

"light broke over the horizon" "Voices broke in the air"

Related terms: become
18. [ verb ] stop operating or functioning
Synonyms: fail break_down die go_bad conk_out give_out go give_way
Examples:

"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"

Related terms: change blow_out misfire crash malfunction die failure
19. [ verb ] fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns
Synonyms: violate go_against
Examples:

"He violated the agreement to stay away from his ex-wife" "You are breaking the law!"

Related terms: conform_to fly_in_the_face_of violation
20. [ noun ] the act of breaking something
Synonyms: breaking breakage
Examples:

"the breakage was unavoidable"

Related terms: change_of_integrity fracture chip smashing rupture
21. [ verb ] be broken in
Examples:

"If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"

Related terms: change break_in
22. [ noun ] (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other
Synonyms: geological_fault fault_line fracture shift fault
Examples:

"they built it right over a geological fault"

Related terms: crack strike-slip_fault inclined_fault San_Andreas_Fault denali_fault fault_line geology
23. [ verb ] curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
Examples:

"The surf broke"

Related terms: collapse surf
24. [ verb ] interrupt a continued activity
Synonyms: break_away
Examples:

"She had broken with the traditional patterns"

Related terms: separate
25. [ verb ] lessen in force or effect
Synonyms: soften damp weaken dampen
Examples:

"soften a shock" "break a fall"

Related terms: deaden damp deafen weakener
26. [ noun ] a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
Synonyms: breach severance rift falling_out rupture
Examples:

"they hoped to avoid a break in relations"

Related terms: separation sever
27. [ noun ] a pause from doing something (as work)
Synonyms: respite time_out recess
Examples:

"we took a 10-minute break" "he took time out to recuperate"

Related terms: pause spring_break pause
28. [ verb ] (military) make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing (military usage)
Examples:

"The ranks broke"

Related terms: flee military
29. [ verb ] discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
Synonyms: break_up split part separate split_up
Examples:

"The business partners broke over a tax question" "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage" "My friend and I split up"

Related terms: secede disassociate dissassociate break_with divorce disunify give_the_axe separation dissolution rupture legal_separation
30. [ verb ] destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
Examples:

"He broke the glass plate" "She broke the match"

Related terms: cancel separate smash fracture shatter break_in breaker
31. [ verb ] change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another
Examples:

"Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children"

Related terms: switch
32. [ verb ] cause the failure or ruin of
Examples:

"His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage" "This play will either make or break the playwright"

Related terms: make ruin
33. [ verb ] find the solution or key to
Examples:

"break the code"

Related terms: solve
34. [ verb ] diminish or discontinue abruptly
Examples:

"The patient's fever broke last night"

Related terms: decrease
35. [ verb ] happen or take place
Examples:

"Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months" (informal)

Related terms: anticipate happen colloquialism
36. [ verb ] (linguistics) undergo breaking
Examples:

"The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"

Related terms: diphthongize
37. [ verb ] find a flaw in
Examples:

"break an alibi" "break down a proof"

Related terms: destroy
38. [ verb ] interrupt the flow of current in
Examples:

"break a circuit"

Related terms: interrupt circuit_breaker
39. [ verb ] cease an action temporarily
Synonyms: pause intermit
Examples:

"We pause for station identification" "let's break for lunch"

Related terms: interrupt rest take_five take_ten pause respite
40. [ verb ] fall sharply
Examples:

"stock prices broke"

Related terms: decrease
41. [ verb ] fracture a bone of
Synonyms: fracture
Examples:

: "I broke my foot while playing hockey"

Related terms: injure fracture fracture
42. [ verb ] weaken or destroy in spirit or body
Examples:

"His resistance was broken" "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"

Related terms: weaken
43. [ verb ] pierce or penetrate
Examples:

"The blade broke her skin"

Related terms: penetrate
44. [ verb ] be released or become known; of news
Synonyms: get_around get_out
Examples:

"News of her death broke in the morning"

Related terms: leak disclose
45. [ verb ] become punctured or penetrated
Examples:

: "The skin broke"

46. [ verb ] pierce the surface of
Examples:

"The fish broke the water"

Related terms: penetrate pierce
47. [ verb ] of the male voice in puberty
Examples:

"his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir"

Related terms: change_state
48. [ verb ] go to pieces
Synonyms: wear_out fall_apart bust wear
Examples:

"The lawn mower finally broke" "The gears wore out" "The old chair finally fell apart completely"

Related terms: decay fray chip crash chip crash whittle_away wear_away wear_away wear
49. [ verb ] break a piece from a whole
Synonyms: snap_off break_off
Examples:

"break a branch from a tree"

Related terms: detach breakage
50. [ noun ] the occurrence of breaking
Examples:

"the break in the dam threatened the valley"

Related terms: separation snap
51. [ noun ] an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
Synonyms: interruption disruption gap
Examples:

"it was presented without commercial breaks"

Related terms: delay interjection cut-in breaking_off cut-in heckling interrupt interrupt
52. [ noun ] (sport) any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare
Synonyms: open_frame
Examples:

"the break in the eighth frame cost him the match"

Related terms: score
53. [ verb ] destroy the completeness of a set of related items
Synonyms: break_up
Examples:

"The book dealer would not break the set"

Related terms: change
54. [ verb ] (sport) make the opening shot that scatters the balls, in billiards or pool
Related terms: shoot billiards
55. [ verb ] (boxing) separate from a clinch, in boxing
Examples:

"The referee broke the boxers"

Related terms: separate
56. [ verb ] exchange for smaller units of money
Examples:

"I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"

Related terms: change
57. [ verb ] (dance) do a break dance
Synonyms: break-dance break_dance
Examples:

"Kids were break-dancing at the street corner"

Related terms: dance break_dancing
58. [ verb ] happen, as of an event
Synonyms: recrudesce develop
Examples:

"Report the news as it develops" "These political movements recrudesce from time to time"

Related terms: anticipate happen erupt break_through develop development
59. [ verb ] become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
Synonyms: crack check
Examples:

"The glass cracked when it was heated"

Related terms: change crack check crack fracture
60. [ noun ] (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving
Synonyms: break_of_serve
Examples:

"he was up two breaks in the second set"

Related terms: score tennis
61. [ verb ] emerge from the surface, as of fish in water
Examples:

"The whales broke"

Related terms: appear
62. [ verb ] break down, literally or metaphorically
Synonyms: collapse fall_in cave_in give_way give founder
Examples:

"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"

Related terms: change flop buckle slump implode abandon collapse cave_in
63. [ verb ] stop and wait, as if awaiting further instructions or developments
Synonyms: hold_on stop
Examples:

"Hold on a moment!" "We broke at noon"

Related terms: interrupt arrest
64. [ verb ] divide into pieces, as by bending or cutting
Synonyms: break_away
Examples:

"break the loaf of bread" "break the crackers"

Related terms: divide separate pause
65. [ noun ] (medicine) breaking of hard tissue such as bone
Synonyms: fracture
Examples:

"it was a nasty fracture" "the break seems to have been caused by a fall"

Related terms: injury compression_fracture compound_fracture simple_fracture complete_fracture displaced_fracture fatigue_fracture incomplete_fracture impacted_fracture comminuted_fracture capillary_fracture depressed_fracture crack fracture fracture fracture
66. [ verb ] (law) invalidate by judicial action
Examples:

"The will was broken"

Related terms: invalidate
67. [ verb ] change directions suddenly
Related terms: switch
68. [ verb ] assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
Synonyms: relegate demote kick_downstairs bump
Examples:

"She was demoted because she always speaks up" "He was broken down to Sargeant"

Related terms: promote delegate reduce murder relegation
69. [ verb ] reduce to bankruptcy
Synonyms: bankrupt smash ruin
Examples:

"My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!" "The slump in the financial markets smashed him"

Related terms: impoverish bankruptcy
70. [ noun ] a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
Synonyms: pause suspension interruption intermission
Related terms: time_interval letup respite delay lapse blackout halftime time-out caesura dead_air hesitate freeze
71. [ noun ] (sport) the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool
Related terms: stroke pool billiards
72. [ verb ] come forth or begin from a state of latency
Examples:

"The first winter storm broke over New York"

Related terms: come_forth
73. [ noun ] (sport) a sudden dash
Examples:

"he made a break for the open door"

Related terms: dash fast_break fastbreak
74. [ verb ] give up
Examples:

: "break cigarette smoking"

Related terms: discontinue
75. [ verb ] cause to give up a habit
Examples:

"She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"

76. [ verb ] vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
Examples:

"The flat plain was broken by sharply mesas"

Related terms: change interruption
77. [ verb ] come to an end
Examples:

"The heat wave finally broke yesterday"

Related terms: terminate end
78. [ noun ] an escape from jail
Synonyms: jailbreak gaolbreak prisonbreak prison-breaking breakout
Examples:

"the breakout was carefully planned"

Related terms: escape
Similar spelling:   Breakey
  Brack
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  Breck
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  Brees
  Brook
  broca
  brusk
  Broce
  Brock
  brusa
  Bruck
  Bruce
  broke
  Brouk
  Brose
  broach
  Brooke
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  Brasch
  braggy
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  braise
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  Bracey
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  Briski
  brassy
  Bracco
  Briese
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  breach
  Brokaw
  Breaux
  Breece
  breech
  Brocks
  Breese
  breeze
  breezy
  Brekke
  Brickey
  Bresee
  bruise
  Brouse
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  brogue
  Brassia
  browse
  brassie