[noun] some abrupt occurrence that interrupts; "the telephone is an annoying interruption"; "there was a break in the action when a player was hurt" Synonyms: interruption
[noun] an unexpected piece of good luck; "he finally got his big break" Synonyms: good luck, happy chance
[noun] (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault" Synonyms: fault, geological fault, shift, fracture
[noun] a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations" Synonyms: rupture, breach, severance, rift, falling out
[noun] a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate" Synonyms: respite, recess, time out
[noun] the act of breaking something; "the breakage was unavoidable" Synonyms: age, ing
[verb] terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty" Synonyms: interrupt
[verb] become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart" Synonyms: separate, split up, fall apart, come apart
[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] render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!"
[verb] ruin completely; "He busted my radio!" Synonyms: bust
[verb] act in disregard of laws and rules; "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law" Synonyms: transgress, offend, infract, violate, go against, breach
[verb] move away or escape suddenly; "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out Synonyms: out, away
[verb] scatter or part; "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"
[verb] force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger" Synonyms: burst, erupt
[verb] prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the negociations" Synonyms: off, discontinue, stop
[verb] 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!" Synonyms: in
[verb] make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern" Synonyms: in
[verb] fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax" Synonyms: violate, go against
[verb] surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break a record" Synonyms: better
[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; "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her" Synonyms: disclose, let on, bring out, reveal, discover, expose, divulge, impart, give away, let out
[verb] come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"
[verb] 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" Synonyms: fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, down
[verb] interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns" Synonyms: away
[verb] make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke"
[verb] curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The surf broke"
[verb] lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall" Synonyms: dampen, damp, soften, weaken
[verb] be broken in; "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"
[verb] come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"
[verb] vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"
[verb] cause to give up a habit; "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"
[verb] give up; "break cigarette smoking"
[verb] come forth or begin from a state of latency; "The first winter storm broke over New York"
[verb] happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months"
[verb] cause the failure or ruin of; "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright"
[verb] invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken"
[verb] discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up" Synonyms: separate, part, split up, split, up
[verb] assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sargeant" Synonyms: demote, bump, relegate, kick downstairs
[verb] reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him" Synonyms: bankrupt, ruin, smash
[verb] change directions suddenly
[verb] emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales broke"
[verb] break down, literally or metaphorically; "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" Synonyms: collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, founder
[verb] do a break dance; "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner" Synonyms: dance, -dance
[verb] exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"
[verb] destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set" Synonyms: up
[verb] make the opening shot that scatters the balls
[verb] separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers"
[verb] go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely" Synonyms: wear, wear out, bust, fall apart
[verb] break a piece from a whole; "break a branch from a tree" Synonyms: off, snap off
[verb] become punctured or penetrated; "The skin broke"
[verb] pierce or penetrate; "The blade broke her skin"
[verb] be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning" Synonyms: get out, get around
[verb] cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch" Synonyms: pause, intermit
[verb] interrupt the flow of current in; "break a circuit"
[verb] undergo breaking; "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"
[verb] find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof"
[verb] find the solution or key to; "break the code"
[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] happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time" Synonyms: recrudesce, develop
[verb] become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated" Synonyms: crack, check
[verb] of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking
[verb] fall sharply; "stock prices broke"
[verb] fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey" Synonyms: fracture
[verb] diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient's fever broke last night"
[verb] weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"
