Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
break (verb)transitive verb
1.
a) to separate into parts with suddenness or violence
b) - fracture break an arm
c) - rupture break the skin
d) to cut into and turn over the surface of - break the soil
e) to render inoperable - broke his watch
2.
a) - violate transgress break the law break a promise
b) to invalidate (a will) by action at law
3.
a) archaic to force entry into
b) to burst and force a way through - break the sound barrier break a racial barrier
c) to escape by force from - break jail
d) to make or effect by cutting, forcing, or pressing through - break a trail through the woods
4.
to disrupt the order or compactness of - break formation
5.
to make ineffective as a binding force - break the spell
6.
a) to defeat utterly and end as an effective force - destroy used starvation to break the enemy
b) to crush the spirit of - brutal methods broke the prisoner
c) to make tractable or submissive as
(1) to train (an animal) to adjust to the service or convenience of humans - a halter-broke horse
(2) - inure accustom
d) to exhaust in health, strength, or capacity - broken by his struggle for power
7.
a) to stop or bring to an end suddenly - halt break a deadlock
b) - interrupt suspend break the silence with a cry
c) to open and bring about suspension of operation - break an electric circuit
d) to destroy unity or completeness of - break a dining room set by buying a chair
e) to change the appearance of uniformity of - a dormer breaks the level roof
f) to split the surface of - fish breaking water
g) to cause to discontinue a habit - tried to break him of smoking
8.
a) to make known - tell break the bad news gently
b) to bring to attention or prominence initially - radio stations breaking new musicians break a news story
9.
a) to ruin financially - break the bank
b) to reduce in rank - broken from sergeant to private
10.
a) to split into smaller units, parts, or processes - divide
b) (1) to give or get the equivalent of (a bill) in smaller denominations
(2) to use as the denomination in paying a bill - didn't want to break a $20 bill often used with into, up, or down
11.
a) to check the speed, force, or intensity of - the bushes will break his fall without breaking her stride
b) to cause failure and discontinuance of (a strike) by measures outside bargaining processes
12.
to cause a sudden significant decrease in the price, value, or volume of - news likely to break the market sharply
13.
a) - exceed surpass break the record
b) to score less than (a specified total) - a golfer trying to break 90
c) to win against (an opponent's service) in tennis
d) to make (a run) in football by getting past defenders - broke a 20-yard run
14.
to open the action of (a breechloader)
15.
a) to find an explanation or solution for - solve the detective broke the case
b) to discover the essentials of (a code or cipher system)
16.
to demonstrate the falsity of - break an alibi
17.
to ruin the prospects of - could make or break her career
18.
intransitive verb
to produce visibly - barely breaks a sweat
1.
a) to escape with sudden forceful effort - the attacker broke from the throng
b) to come into being by or as if by bursting forth - day was breaking
c) to effect a penetration - break through security lines
d) to emerge through the surface of the water
e) to start abruptly - when the storm broke
f) to become known or published - when the news broke
g) to make a sudden dash - break for cover
h) to separate after a clinch in boxing
i) to achieve initial success in usually a sudden or striking way - her song broke nationally
j) to begin a race - the horse broke poorly
2.
a) to come apart or split into pieces - fragment shatter the cup broke when it fell
b) to open spontaneously or by pressure from within - the blister broke
c) of a wave to curl over and fall apart in surf or foam
3.
to interrupt one's activity or occupation for a brief period - break for lunch
4.
to alter sharply in tone, pitch, or intensity - a voice breaking with emotion
5.
to become fair - clear when the weather breaks
6.
to make the opening shot of a game of pool
7.
to end a relationship, connection, or agreement - usually used with with or from
8.
to give way in disorderly retreat
9.
a) to swerve suddenly
b) to curve from a straight path - a pitch that breaks away from the batter a putt that breaks left
10.
a) to fail in health, strength, vitality, resolve, or control - may break under questioning
b) to become inoperative because of damage, wear, or strain - the pump broke
11.
to fail to keep a prescribed gait - used of a horse
12.
to undergo a sudden significant decrease in price, value, or volume - transportation stocks may break sharply
13.
- happen develop for the team to succeed, everything has to break right
14.
to win against an opponent's service in tennis
15.
a) to divide into classes, categories, or types - usually used with into the rose is broken into several varieties
b) to fold, bend, lift, or come apart at a seam, groove, or joint
c) of cream to separate during churning into liquid and fat
1.
a) an act or action of - breaking
b) the opening shot in a game of pool or billiards
2.
a) a condition produced by or as if by breaking - gap a break in the clouds
b) a gap in an otherwise continuous electric circuit
3.
the action or act of breaking in, out, or forth - at break of day a jail break
4.
a place or situation at which a break occurs as
a) the place at which a word is divided especially at the end of a line of print or writing
b) the point or location at which waves break for surfing
5.
an interruption in continuity as - a break in the weather
a) a notable change of subject matter, attitude, or treatment
b) (1) an abrupt, significant, or noteworthy change or interruption in a continuous process, trend, or surface
(2) a respite from work, school, or duty - coffee break spring break
(3) relief from annoyance - often used to express exasperation or irritation in phrases like give me a break
(4) a planned interruption in a radio or television program - a break for the commercial
c) deviation of a pitched baseball from a straight line
d) mining - fault dislocation
e) failure of a horse to maintain the prescribed gait
f) an abrupt change in musical or vocal pitch or quality
g) the action or an instance of breaking service in tennis
h) a usually solo instrumental passage in jazz, folk, or popular music
6.
a) - dash rush a base runner making a break for home
b) - fast break
7.
a sudden and abrupt decline of prices or values
8.
a) the start of a race
b) the act of separating after a clinch in boxing
9.
a) a stroke of luck and especially of good luck - a bad break got the breaks
b) a favorable or opportune situation - chance waiting for a big break in show business
c) favorable consideration or treatment - a tax break a break on the price
10.
a) a rupture in previously agreeable relations - a break between the two countries
b) an abrupt split or difference with something previously adhered to or followed - a sharp break with tradition
11.
- breakdown suffered a mental break
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
break (noun)1.
a momentary halt in an activity
SYNONIMS:
break, breath, breather, interruption, lull, recessRELATED WORDS:
time-out; interim, interlude, intermission, interval, respite, rest; cessation, discontinuance, downtime, ending, expiration, finishing, hitch, lapse, stoppage, stopping, termination; abeyance, moratorium, surcease, suspension; discontinuity, gap, hiatusNEAR ANTONYMS:
continuation, endurance, persistence, progress, progression; extension, prolongation2.
a period during which the usual routine of school or work is suspended
SYNONIMS:
break, holiday, hols, leave, recessRELATED WORDS:
sabbatical; furlough, liberty; breather, relaxation, respite, rest; interim, intermission, interval; feast, holy day, legal holiday; idling, loafing, lounging, slacking3.
an open space in a barrier (as a wall or hedge)
SYNONIMS:
breach, break, discontinuity, gulf, hiatus, hole, interstice, interval, opening, rent, rift, separation, voidRELATED WORDS:
chink, cleft, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure; notch, slit, slot, split; interspace, pore; abyss, aperture, cavity, chasm, gape, orifice; fracture, rupture, severance, sundering4.
a favorable combination of circumstances, time, and place
SYNONIMS:
break, chance, occasion, opening, room, shotRELATED WORDS:
play, way; juncture, pass5.
an unexpected benefit or advantage resulting from the uncertain course of events
SYNONIMS:
break, strikeRELATED WORDS:
accident, chance, circumstance, hap, happenchance, happenstance, hazard, luck6.
the act or an instance of getting free from danger or confinement
SYNONIMS:
break, breakout, bunk, flight, getaway, lam, rout, slipRELATED WORDS:
jailbreak; deliverance, liberation, redemption, release, rescue, salvation; close call, close shave, near missNEAR ANTONYMS:
captivity, confinement, immurement, imprisonment, incarceration, internment; custody, detention, hold, holding, retention; endangerment, hazard, imperilment, jeopardy, peril, risk, trouble1.
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
SYNONIMS:
break up, bust, distintegrate, dismember, disrupt, fracture, fragment, riveRELATED WORDS:
atomize, crush, grind, powder, pulverize, reduce; blast, blow up, burst, detonate, explode; crack, pop, shatter, shiver, smash; chip, sliver, splinter, split; implode; destroy, ruin, wreckNEAR ANTONYMS:
doctor, fix, heal, mend, patch, rebuild, recondition, reconstruct, renovate, repair2.
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
SYNONIMS:
break, break off, break up, can, cease, cut off, cut out, desist (from), discontinue, drop, end, give over, halt, knock off, lay off, leave off, pack (up in), quit, shut offRELATED WORDS:
complete, conclude, finish; close (down); deactivate; block, blockade, dam, delay, detain, hinder, hold, hold back, impede, kibosh, obstruct, stem; call, suspend; arrest, brake, check, clamp down, rein (in), squash, squelch, stamp, stanch ( staunch), stunt, suppress, turn back; pause, stay, suspend; abolish, abort, annul, demolish, destroy, dissolve, kill, ruin, scuttle, snuffNEAR ANTONYMS:
carry on, continue, follow through (with), keep up, run on; advance, proceed, progress; actuate, drive, impel, propel, stir3.
to bring to a lower grade or rank
SYNONIMS:
break, bust, degrade, disrate, downgrade, reduceRELATED WORDS:
can, cashier, dismiss, downsize, fire, lay off, sack; abase, debase, demean, humble, humiliate, lowerNEAR ANTONYMS:
hire4.
to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language
SYNONIMS:
break, crack, decipher, decryptRELATED WORDS:
descramble, unscramble; render, translate; dope (out), figure out, puzzle (out), solve, unravel, unriddle, work, work outNEAR ANTONYMS:
garble, jumble (up), mix (up)5.
to come to a temporary halt in one's activity
SYNONIMS:
breakRELATED WORDS:
hesitate; break in, interrupt; cease, discontinue, end, finish, stop, terminate; knock off, lay off, quit; lapse, let upNEAR ANTONYMS:
continue, persist; advance, progress; extend, prolong, stretch6.
to cut into and turn over the sod of (a piece of land) using a bladed implement
SYNONIMS:
break, furrowRELATED WORDS:
cultivate, till; fallow; harrow, hoe, list, rake, rototill7.
to fail to keep
SYNONIMS:
breach, break, contravene, fracture, infringe, offend, traduce, transgressRELATED WORDS:
disobey, rebel; blow off, brush (off), disregard, flout, ignore, neglect, overlook, overpass, pass over, slight, tune out, wink (at); dismiss, pooh-pooh ( pooh), scorn, shrug off; defy, resist, withstandNEAR ANTONYMS:
defer (to), serve, submit (to), surrender (to), yield (to); attend, hear, heed, listen (to), mark, note, notice, regard, watch8.
to find an answer for through reasoning
SYNONIMS:
answer, break, crack, dope (out), figure out, puzzle (out), resolve, riddle (out), unravel, unriddle, work, work outRELATED WORDS:
conclude, decide, deduce, gather, infer, judge, reason; clear (up), iron out, straighten (out), unscramble, untangle, untie; assume, conjecture, divine, guess, presume, speculate; decipher, decode9.
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
SYNONIMS:
blemish, bloody, break, compromise, crab, cripple, cross (up), deface, disfigure, endamage, flaw, harm, hurt, impair, injure, mar, spoil, vitiateRELATED WORDS:
deteriorate, enervate, enfeeble, undermine, weaken; erode, scour, wash out, wear (away); blight, tarnish; dent, ding, dint; botch, gum (up), queer; lacerate, wound; disable, hamstring, lame, maim, mangle, mutilate, torment, torture; annihilate, bang up, bash, batter, clobber, crush, dash, decimate, demolish, desolate, destroy, devastate, do in, pulverize, raze, ruin, scourge, shatter, smash, tear down, total, waste, wipe out, wreckNEAR ANTONYMS:
cure, heal, help, rectify, rehabilitate, remedy; edit, remodel, revise; ameliorate, better, enhance, enrich, improve, meliorate, perfect, refine10.
to stop functioning
SYNONIMS:
break, break down, conk (out), crash, cut out, die, give out, stallRELATED WORDS:
fizzle, sputter, wheeze; act up, malfunction; jam11.
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening
SYNONIMS:
bolt, break, bug out, flee, fly, hightail (it), retreat, run away, run off, skedaddleRELATED WORDS:
abscond, clear out, decamp, elope, escape, get (away), get out, lam, light out, make off, mizzle [], scarper [], scat, scram, skip (out), skirrNEAR ANTONYMS:
beard, brave, confront, dare, defy, face; abide, dwell, hang around, linger, remain, stay, stick around, tarry12.
to use up all the physical energy of
SYNONIMS:
break, burn out, bust, do in, do up, drain, fag, fatigue, frazzle, harass, kill, knock out, outwear, tire, tucker (out), wash out, wear, wear out, wearyRELATED WORDS:
debilitate, enervate, enfeeble, sap, waste, weakenNEAR ANTONYMS:
activate, energize, invigorate, rejuvenate, strengthen, vitalize; relax, rest, unwind13.
to become known
SYNONIMS:
break, circulate, come out, get about, get around, get round, leak (out), out, spreadRELATED WORDS:
develop, transpire, unfold; disclose, reveal, spill, tellNEAR ANTONYMS:
hush (up), suppress; conceal, disguise, hide, mask; secrete14.
to cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts
SYNONIMS:
bankrupt, break, bustRELATED WORDS:
beggar, impoverish, pauperize; reduce, straiten; clean (out), wipe outNEAR ANTONYMS:
enrich, richen15.
to come into existence
SYNONIMS:
actualize, appear, arise, break, commence, dawn, engender, form, materialize, originate, set in, spring, startRELATED WORDS:
be, breathe, exist, live, subsist; arrive, come on, emerge; coalesce, cohere, shape (up); continue, endure, last, persist, surviveNEAR ANTONYMS:
conclude, desist, discontinue, finish, halt, quit, terminate; disappear, dissolve, evaporate, vanish; depart, die, expire, pass away, perish16.
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course
SYNONIMS:
break, cut, sheer, veer, yaw, zag, zigRELATED WORDS:
skew, slew ( slue); arc, arch, bend, bow, crook, curve, hook, round, sweep, wheel; about-face, pivot; circle, coil, curl, loop, spiral; turn, twist, wind; weave, zigzag; deviate, stray, wander, waver17.
to diminish the price or value of
SYNONIMS:
attenuate, break, cheapen, depress, devaluate, devalue, downgrade, lower, mark down, reduce, sink, write down, write offRELATED WORDS:
debase, demonetize; underestimate, underprice, underrate, undervalue; abridge, compress, contract, de-escalate, deflate, downsize, dwindle, lessen, moderate, shrinkNEAR ANTONYMS:
bloat, blow up, inflate; overestimate, overprice, overrate, overvalue; add, aggrandize, amplify, augment, balloon, boost, compound, dilate, enlarge, escalate, expand, extend, heighten, increase, maximize, multiply, raise, swell, up18.
to go beyond the limit of
SYNONIMS:
break, outreach, outrun, overpass, overreach, overrun, overshoot, overstep, surpass, transcendRELATED WORDS:
encroach, entrench ( intrench), infringe, invade, trespass; overdo, overuse, overutilize, overwork19.
to penetrate the surface (as of water) from below
SYNONIMS:
break, surfaceRELATED WORDS:
emerge, riseNEAR ANTONYMS:
dive, drop, drown, founder, plunge, sink, submerge, submerse