Definition of: break

(brāk) v. broke (Archaic brake), bro·ken (Archaic broke), break·ing v.t.
1. To separate into pieces or make a fracture in; divide into fragments; shatter.
2. To part; sever, as a rope or bonds.
3. To disable or render useless by shattering or crushing.
4. To puncture or pierce the surface of (the skin).
5. To part the surface of, as ground or water.
6. To violate: to break a contract or a law.
7. To diminish the force of; moderate by interrupting: to break a fall.
8. To dispel or interrupt, as darkness or silence.
9. To destroy the order, continuity, or completeness of: to break step.
10. To interrupt the course of, as a journey; disconnect, as an electrical circuit.
11. To terminate forcibly; overwhelm: to break a strike.
12. To open forcibly (an entrance or way), as into or through a barrier.
13. To escape from: to break jail.
14. To surpass; excel, as a record.
15. To subdue or destroy the spirit or health of, as with toil or discipline.
16. To demote; reduce in rank or status.
17. To make bankrupt or short of money.
18. To discontinue (a habit): usually with off.
19. To cause (someone) to discontinue a habit: to break a child of biting his nails.
20. To tell; announce, as news.
21. Law a To enter (a shop or house) illegally. b To invalidate (a will) by court action.
—v.i.
22. To become divided into fragments or pieces.
23. To dissolve and disperse; come apart: The clouds broke.
24. To become unusable or inoperative: The pencil broke.
25. To be grief-stricken, as the heart.
26. To burst away; free oneself: He broke free from the crowd.
27. To appear above the surface, as a periscope or arm.
28. To come into being or evidence, as the day.
29. To become bankrupt or short of funds.
30. To change or alter in direction, course, etc.: The horse broke from the track.
31. In baseball, to curve near the plate: said of the ball.
32. To crack, as a boy's voice.
33. Music To change from one quality of tone to another.
—to break bread To take or share a meal.
—to break down
1. To become inoperative.
2. To have a physical or nervous collapse.
3. To give way to grief or strong feelings.
4. To overcome, as opposition.
5. To analyze.
—to break in To cause to obey.
—to break into (or in)
1. To interrupt or intervene.
2. To enter by force.
—to break in on (or upon) To interrupt.
—to break off
1. To stop or cease, as from doing something.
2. To sever (relations); discontinue.
3. To become separate or detached.
—to break out
1. To start; have inception, as a fire or plague.
2. To have an eruption or rash, as the skin.
3. To make an escape, as from prison.
—to break out into (or forth in, into, etc.) To begin to do or perform: The birds broke into song.
—to break up
1. To disperse; scatter: The meeting broke up.
2. To dismantle; take apart.
3. To put an end to; stop.
4. To distress: The loss broke up the old man.
5. To sever or discontinue relations: They decided to break up.
—to break with To sever relations.
—noun
1. An opening or breach; tear; fracture.
2. A starting or opening out: The break of day.
3. That which causes an opening, breach, or interruption.
4. Electr. a An apparatus for interrupting the flow or reversing the direction of an electric current. b The interruption of the current.
5. Printing A place where one paragraph ends and another begins.
6. In prosody, a caesura.
7. A high, four-wheeled carriage or wagonette: also brake.
8. A breach of continuity; interruption; especially, an interruption of physical continuity.
9. In writing, address, verse, etc., an interruption in the text or thought, as by an omission, or a space left to be filled out, or by a digression or aposiopesis.
10. A rupture of friendship; a falling out.
11. A sudden decline in prices.
12. Music The point where the chest tone changes to the head tone in singing; hence, sometimes, the point where one register or quality of voice changes to another, as alto to soprano; a similar point in the tones of a musical instrument.
13. In pool, the first play; the shot that scatters the balls.
14. In bowling, the act of playing a frame without making a strike or a spare.
15. In baseball or cricket, a deflection of the ball from a straight course when thrown.
16. In billiards, pool, and croquet, an uninterrupted series of successful shots.
17. Colloq. An unfortunate remark or ill-considered reaction: He made a bad break.
18. Colloq. An opportunity; a piece of luck, good or bad.
19. An agitation on the surface of water caused by the rising of a fish.
20. A dash or run; especially, an attempt to escape.
21. A sudden change in the gait of a horse. ◆ Homophone: brake. [OE brecan. Akin to BREACH.] Synonyms (verb): bankrupt, burst, cashier, crack, crush, demolish, destroy, fracture, rend, rive, rupture, sever, shatter, shiver, smash, split, sunder, transgress. To break is to divide sharply, with severance of particles, as by a blow or strain. To burst is ordinarily to break by pressure from within, as a bombshell. To crush is to break by pressure from without, as an egg shell. To crack is to break without complete severance of parts. Fracture has a somewhat similar sense. A shattered object is broken suddenly and in numerous directions, as a vase is shattered by a blow. A shivered glass is broken into numerous minute, needlelike fragments. To smash is to break thoroughly to pieces with a crashing sound by some sudden act of violence. To split is to part, as wood in the way of the grain, or of other natural cleavage. To rupture is to cause to part less violently and completely than by explosion. To demolish is to beat down, as a mound, building, fortress, etc.; to destroy is to put by any process beyond restoration physically, mentally, or morally. Compare REND, RUPTURE. Antonyms: attach, bind, fasten, join, mend, repair, secure, unite, weld.