Word: break Part of Speech: verb Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-der. Proto-Germanic *brekaną Proto-West Germanic *brekan Old English brecan Middle English breken English break From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). Doublet of bray. Cognates Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”). Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment. The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as speak and wreak. Pronunciation: /bɹeɪk/, [bɹʷeɪ̯k], /bɹɛk/, /bɹiːk/, /brɛːk/ 1. To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly. Labels: ergative, intransitive, transitive Example: If the vase falls to the floor, it might break. Example: In order to tend to the accident victim, he will break the window of the car. 2. To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly. Labels: ergative, intransitive, transitive Example: His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest. Example: He slipped on the ice and broke his leg. 3. To divide (something, often money) into smaller units. Labels: transitive Example: Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me? Example: The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers. 4. To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of. Labels: transitive Example: Her child’s death broke Angela. Example: Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war. 5. To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of. Labels: transitive Example: Colonel: See, gentlemen? Any horse could be broken. Example: You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden. 6. To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief. Labels: intransitive Example: My heart is breaking. Example: Two days later they transferred her to another prison to separate us. I broke. My life was gone, so I thought. 7. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate. Labels: transitive Example: I’ve got to break this habit I have of biting my nails. Example: to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one’s journey 8. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate. Labels: transitive Example: In July Alexander broke the run and went on tour, as was his custom. He believed in keeping in touch with provincial audiences and how wise he was! Example: After Camberwell he broke the play's season and brought it back in the autumn with a few revisions and a noticeably strengthened cast but without any special success. 9. To ruin financially. Labels: transitive Example: The recession broke some small businesses. Example: With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks, / Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks. 10. To fail in business; to go broke, to become bankrupt. Labels: intransitive, obsolete Example: He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes break, and come to poverty. Example: ‘I knew he was in some such low way—He broke did not he?’ 11. Of prices on the stock exchange: to fall suddenly. Labels: intransitive Example: With a few exceptions, stock prices tend to follow the overall market averages. When you have a market decline, therefore, many stocks share the same overall chart pattern. Prices break and go sideways for a period of time. 12. To violate; to fail to adhere to. Labels: transitive Example: When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law. Example: He broke his vows by cheating on his wife. 13. To end a fever. Labels: intransitive Example: Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over. 14. To end a fever. Labels: transitive Example: The treatment broke my fever. Example: Carl broke his fever this morning. 15. To end. Labels: intransitive Example: The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek. 16. To begin or end. Labels: intransitive Example: We ran to find shelter before the storm broke. Example: Around midday the storm broke, and the afternoon was calm and sunny. 17. To arrive. Labels: intransitive Example: Morning has broken. Example: The day broke crisp and clear. 18. To render (a game) unchallenging by altering its rules or exploiting loopholes or weaknesses in them in a way that gives a player an unfair advantage. Labels: slang, transitive Example: Changing the rules to let white have three extra queens would break chess. Example: I broke the RPG by training every member of my party to cast fireballs as well as use swords. 19. To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether. Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke. Example: Did you two break the trolley by racing with it? 20. To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether. Labels: intransitive, specifically, transitive Example: Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions. 21. To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar. Labels: transitive Example: to break a seal Example: I'm a riddle so strong, you can't break me 22. To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar. Labels: specifically, transitive 23. To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar. Labels: specifically, transitive 24. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce. Labels: transitive Example: The cavalry were not able to break the British squares. 25. To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water. Labels: intransitive Example: There are many places on the reef that break during the summer. 26. To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view. Labels: intransitive Example: The Clouds are ſtill above; and, while I ſpeak, / A ſecond deluge o'er our head may break. Example: And from the turf a fountain broke, / And gurgled at our feet. 27. To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily; to go on break. Labels: intransitive Example: Let's break for lunch. 28. To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately) hit something else beneath. Labels: transitive Example: He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall. 29. To disclose or make known an item of news, a band, etc. Labels: ergative, transitive Example: The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous. Example: I don’t know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back. 30. To become audible suddenly. Labels: intransitive Example: Like the crash of thunderbolts…, the sound of musquetry broke over the lawn, …. 31. To change a steady state abruptly. Labels: transitive Example: His coughing broke the silence. Example: His turning on the lights broke the enchantment. 32. To (attempt to) disengage and flee to; to make a run for. Labels: transitive Example: As the last firing of the big guns begins to die down, the German light forces still fighting to the west begin to make their choices. Some break for the open sea; others run for the German-occupied coast; still others stand and die. A small group decide to strike their colors, in imitation of three of the larger German ships. 33. To suddenly become. Labels: copulative, informal Example: Things began breaking bad for him when his parents died. Example: The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly. 34. To become deeper at puberty. Labels: intransitive 35. To alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men, generally to go up, in women, sometimes to go down; to crack. Labels: intransitive Example: His voice breaks when he gets emotional. 36. To lose a texture. Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: If you cook it too long, coconut milk will break. Example: A microwave will create hot spots that can break the sauce. 37. To lose a texture. Labels: intransitive, transitive, usually 38. To surpass or do better than (a specific number); to do better than (a record), setting a new record. Labels: transitive Example: He broke the men's 100-meter record. Example: I can't believe she broke 3 under par! 39. To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver. Labels: transitive Example: He needs to break serve to win the match. Example: Yet when play restarted the Czech was a train that kept on running over Nadal. After breaking Nadal in the opening game of the final set, he went 2-0 up and later took the count to 4-2 with yet another emphatic ace – one of his 22 throughout. 40. To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement. Labels: intransitive Example: Is it your or my turn to break? 41. To remove one of the two men on (a point). Labels: transitive 42. To demote; to reduce the military rank of. Labels: transitive Example: Sir Reginald Wingate, High Commissioner in Egypt, was happy for the success of the work he had advocated for years. I grudged him this happiness; for McMahon, who took the actual risk of starting it, had been broken just before prosperity began. Example: And he played no favorites: when his son-in-law sacked a city he had been told to spare, Genghis broke him to private. 43. To end (a connection); to disconnect. Labels: transitive Example: The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch. Example: The referee broke the boxers' clinch. 44. To counter-attack. Labels: intransitive Example: The Baggies almost hit back instantly when Graham Dorrans broke from midfield and pulled the trigger from 15 yards but Paul Robinson did superbly to tip the Scot's drive around the post. 45. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: Katharine, break thy mind to me. 46. To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength. Labels: intransitive Example: See how the dean begins to break; / Poor gentleman he droops apace. 47. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of. Labels: transitive Example: to break flax 48. To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss. Labels: transitive Example: when I see a great officer broke. 49. To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change gait. Labels: intransitive Example: to break into a run or gallop 50. To fall out; to terminate friendship. Labels: archaic, intransitive Example: c. 1700 Jeremy Collier, On Friendship To break upon the score of danger or expense is to be mean and narrow-spirited. 51. To terminate the execution of a program before normal completion. 52. To suspend the execution of a program during debugging so that the state of the program can be investigated. 53. To cause, or allow the occurrence of, a line break. Example: zero-width non-breaking space