Break Definition

brāk
breaking, breaks, broke, broken
verb
breaking, breaks, broke, broken
To cause to come apart by force; split or crack sharply into pieces; smash; burst.
Webster's New World
To divide into pieces, as by bending or cutting.
Break crackers for a baby.
American Heritage
To separate into components or parts.
Broke the work into discrete tasks.
American Heritage
To snap off or detach.
Broke a twig from the tree.
American Heritage
To quarrel; stop associating (with)
Webster's New World
noun
breaks
A breaking open or apart; breach; fracture.
Webster's New World
The act or an occurrence of breaking.
American Heritage
The beginning or emergence of something.
The break of day.
American Heritage
The result of breaking, as a crack, separation, or opening.
A break in the clouds.
American Heritage
A sudden movement; a dash.
The dog made a break toward the open field.
American Heritage
idiom
break a leg
  • Used to wish someone, such as an actor, success in a performance.
American Heritage
break bread
  • To eat together.
American Heritage
break camp
  • To pack up equipment and leave a campsite.
American Heritage
break cover
  • To emerge from a protected location or hiding place:

    The platoon broke cover and headed down the road.

American Heritage
break even
  • To gain an amount equal to that invested, as in a commercial venture.
American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Break

Noun

Singular:
break
Plural:
breaks

Origin of Break

  • From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrag-.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English breken from Old English brecan bhreg- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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