Break

[breɪk] or [brek]

Definition

(noun.) an escape from jail; 'the breakout was carefully planned'.

(noun.) a sudden dash; 'he made a break for the open door'.

(noun.) an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; 'it was presented without commercial breaks'; 'there was a gap in his account'.

(noun.) (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving; 'he was up two breaks in the second set'.

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

(noun.) 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'.

(noun.) an unexpected piece of good luck; 'he finally got his big break'.

(noun.) the occurrence of breaking; 'the break in the dam threatened the valley'.

(verb.) fall sharply; 'stock prices broke'.

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

(verb.) render inoperable or ineffective; 'You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!'.

(verb.) become separated into pieces or fragments; 'The figurine broke'; 'The freshly baked loaf fell apart'.

(verb.) happen; 'Report the news as it develops'; 'These political movements recrudesce from time to time'.

(verb.) prevent completion; 'stop the project'; 'break off the negotiations'.

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

(verb.) find the solution or key to; 'break the code'.

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

(verb.) undergo breaking; 'The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages'.

(verb.) be released or become known; of news; 'News of her death broke in the morning'.

(verb.) pierce or penetrate; 'The blade broke her skin'.

(verb.) break a piece from a whole; 'break a branch from a tree'.

(verb.) go to pieces; 'The lawn mower finally broke'; 'The gears wore out'; 'The old chair finally fell apart completely'.

(verb.) ruin completely; 'He busted my radio!'.

(verb.) separate from a clinch, in boxing; 'The referee broke the boxers'.

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

(verb.) curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; 'The surf broke'.

(verb.) emerge from the surface of a body of water; 'The whales broke'.

(verb.) scatter or part; 'The clouds broke after the heavy downpour'.

(verb.) move away or escape suddenly; 'The horses broke from the stable'; 'Three inmates broke jail'; 'Nobody can break out--this prison is high security'.

(verb.) interrupt a continued activity; 'She had broken with the traditional patterns'.

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

(verb.) give up; 'break cigarette smoking'.

(verb.) cause to give up a habit; 'She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes'.

(verb.) vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; 'The flat plain was broken by tall mesas'.

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

(verb.) destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments; 'He broke the glass plate'; 'She broke the match'.

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

(verb.) invalidate by judicial action; 'The will was broken'.

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

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

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

(verb.) interrupt the flow of current in; 'break a circuit'.

(verb.) become punctured or penetrated; 'The skin broke'.

(verb.) change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another; 'Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children'.

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

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

(verb.) change directions suddenly.

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

(verb.) come to an end; 'The heat wave finally broke yesterday'.

(verb.) destroy the completeness of a set of related items; 'The book dealer would not break the set'.

Checked by Cathy--From WordNet

Definition

(v. t.) 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.

(v. t.) To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.

(v. t.) To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

(v. t.) To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.

(v. t.) 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.

(v. t.) To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.

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

(v. t.) To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.

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

(v. t.) To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.

(v. t.) To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.

(v. t.) To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.

(v. t.) 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.

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

(v. t.) To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.

(v. t.) To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.

(v. i.) To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.

(v. i.) To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.

(v. i.) To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn.

(v. i.) To burst forth violently, as a storm.

(v. i.) To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking.

(v. i.) To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.

(v. i.) To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking.

(v. i.) To fall in business; to become bankrupt.

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

(v. i.) 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.

(v. i.) To fall out; to terminate friendship.

(v. t.) An opening made by fracture or disruption.

(v. t.) An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship.

(v. t.) A projection or recess from the face of a building.

(v. t.) An opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current.

(v. t.) An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.

(v. t.) An interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc.

(v. t.) The first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.

(v. t.) A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.

(v. t.) A device for checking motion, or for measuring friction. See Brake, n. 9 & 10.

(n.) See Commutator.

Checked by Gregory

Synonyms and Synonymous

v. a. [1]. Rend, sever, part, dispart, fracture, tear asunder.[2]. Shatter, shiver, smash, batter, dash to pieces.[3]. Enfeeble, enervate, weaken, impair.[4]. Tame, make tractable, make docile.[5]. Make bankrupt.[6]. Discard, dismiss, discharge, degrade, cashier.[7]. Violate, infringe, transgress, set at nought.[8]. Lessen the force of (as a fall).[9]. Interrupt, cease, intermit, cut short.[10]. Disclose, open, unfold, lay open.

v. n. [1]. Be shattered, be shivered, be dashed to pieces.[2]. Burst, explode.[3]. Open, dawn, appear.[4]. Become bankrupt.[5]. Decline, low health or strength.

n. [1]. Breach, opening, gap, fissure, rent, rift, chasm, rupture, fracture.[2]. Interruption, pause, CÆSURA.[3]. Dawn, dawning.

Checked by Dolores

Synonyms and Antonyms

SYN:Fracture, rupture, shatter, shiver, destroy, tame, curb, demolish,tear_asunder, rend, burst, sever, smash, split, subdue, violate, infringe

ANT:Heal, piece, conjoin, protect, conserve, encourage, rally, observe, obey

Typist: Thaddeus

Definition

v.t. to part by force: to shatter: to crush: to tame or wear out: to violate or outrage as a law a bargain &c.: to check by intercepting as a fall: to interrupt as silence or the monotony of anything or in 'to break one off a habit:' to make bankrupt: to degrade from rank as an officer.—v.i. to part in two: to burst forth: to open or appear as the morning: to become bankrupt: to crack or give way as the voice: to dissolve as frost: to collapse in foam as a wave: to fall out as with a friend:—pa.t. brōke; pa.p. brōk′en.—n. the state of being broken: an opening: a pause or interruption: (billiards) a consecutive series of successful strokes also the number of points attained by such: the dawn.—ns. Break′age the action of breaking or its consequences: an interruption; Break′-down a dance vigorous rather than graceful in which much noise is made by the feet of the one performer; Break′er a wave broken on rocks or the shore.—adj. Break′-neck likely to cause a broken neck.—ns. Break′-prom′ise Break′-vow one who makes a practice of breaking his promise or vow; Break′water a barrier to break the force of the waves.—Break a jest to utter a jest unexpectedly; Break a lance with to enter into a contest with a rival; Break away to go away abruptly as from prison &c.: to be scattered as clouds after a storm; Break bulk to open the hold and take out a portion of the cargo; Break cover to burst forth from concealment as a fox; Break down to crush down or level: to collapse to fail completely; Break forth to burst out issue; Break ground to commence digging or excavation: to begin; Break in to train to labour as a horse; Break in in upon or into to enter violently or unexpectedly to interpose abruptly in a conversation &c.; Break loose to extricate one's self forcibly: to break through all restraint; Break news to make anything known esp. of bad news with caution and delicacy; Break off to separate by breaking put an end to; Break out to appear suddenly: to break through all restraint; Break sheer (said of a ship riding at anchor) to be forced by wind or tide out of a position clear of the anchor; Break the heart to destroy with grief; Break the ice (fig.) to get through first difficulties: Break up to break open; Break upon the wheel to punish by stretching a criminal on a wheel and breaking his bones; Break wind to void wind from the stomach; Break with to fail out as friends may do.

n. a large wagonette: a carriage frame all wheels and no body used in breaking in horses.

Typist: Tito