break
n 1: some abrupt occurrence that interrupts; "the telephone is an
annoying interruption"; "there was a break in the action
when a player was hurt" [syn: {interruption}]
2: an unexpected piece of good luck; "he finally got his big
break" [syn: {good luck}, {happy chance}]
3: (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" [syn: {fault}, {geological
fault}, {shift}, {fracture}]
4: a personal or social separation (as between opposing
factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations"
[syn: {rupture}, {breach}, {severance}, {rift}, {falling
out}]
5: a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute
break"; "he took time out to recuperate" [syn: {respite},
{recess}, {time out}]
6: the act of breaking something; "the breakage was
unavoidable" [syn: {breakage}, {breaking}]
7: a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation
of something [syn: {pause}, {intermission}, {interruption},
{suspension}]
8: breaking of hard tissue such as bone; "it was a nasty
fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall"
[syn: {fracture}]
9: the occurrence of breaking; "the break in the dam threatened
the valley"
10: the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or
pool
11: (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your
opponent was serving; "he was up two breaks in the second
set" [syn: {break of serve}]
12: an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; "it was
presented without commercial breaks" [syn: {interruption},
{disruption}, {gap}]
13: a sudden dash; "he made a break for the open door"
14: any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare;
"the break in the eighth frame cost him the match" [syn:
{open frame}]
15: an escape from jail; "the breakout was carefully planned"
[syn: {breakout}, {jailbreak}, {gaolbreak}, {prisonbreak},
{prison-breaking}]
v 1: terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky
streak"; "break the cycle of poverty" [syn: {interrupt}]
2: become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine
broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart" [syn: {separate},
{split up}, {fall apart}, {come apart}]
3: destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to
separate into pieces or fragments; "He broke the glass
plate"; "She broke the match"
4: render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock
when you took it apart!"
5: ruin completely; "He busted my radio!" [syn: {bust}] [ant: {repair}]
6: act in disregard of laws and rules; "offend all laws of
humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization";
"break a law" [syn: {transgress}, {offend}, {infract}, {violate},
{go against}, {breach}]
7: move away or escape suddenly; "The horses broke from the
stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break
out--this prison is high security" [syn: {break out}, {break
away}]
8: scatter or part; "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"
9: force out or release suddenly and often violently something
pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger" [syn: {burst},
{erupt}]
10: prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the
negociations" [syn: {break off}, {discontinue}, {stop}]
11: 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!" [syn: {break in}]
12: make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough
to break"; "I broke in the new intern" [syn: {break in}]
13: fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or
patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax"
[syn: {violate}, {go against}] [ant: {conform to}]
14: surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break
a record" [syn: {better}]
15: 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" [syn: {disclose}, {let on}, {bring out},
{reveal}, {discover}, {expose}, {divulge}, {impart}, {give
away}, {let out}]
16: come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices
broke in the air"
17: 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" [syn: {fail}, {go bad}, {give
way}, {die}, {give out}, {conk out}, {go}, {break down}]
18: interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the
traditional patterns" [syn: {break away}]
19: make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by
quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke"
20: curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The
surf broke"
21: lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall"
[syn: {dampen}, {damp}, {soften}, {weaken}]
22: be broken in; "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add
some stress"
23: come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"
24: vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat
plain was broken by tall mesas"
25: cause to give up a habit; "She finally broke herself of
smoking cigarettes"
26: give up; "break cigarette smoking"
27: come forth or begin from a state of latency; "The first
winter storm broke over New York"
28: happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well
for us in the past few months"
29: cause the failure or ruin of; "His peccadilloes finally
broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break
the playwright" [ant: {make}]
30: invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken"
31: 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" [syn: {separate}, {part}, {split up}, {split},
{break up}]
32: assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted
because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to
Sargeant" [syn: {demote}, {bump}, {relegate}, {kick
downstairs}] [ant: {promote}]
33: reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going
to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets
smashed him" [syn: {bankrupt}, {ruin}, {smash}]
34: change directions suddenly
35: emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales
broke"
36: 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" [syn: {collapse},
{fall in}, {cave in}, {give}, {give way}, {founder}]
37: do a break dance; "Kids were break-dancing at the street
corner" [syn: {break dance}, {break-dance}]
38: exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100
bill just to buy the candy"
39: destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The
book dealer would not break the set" [syn: {break up}]
40: make the opening shot that scatters the balls
41: separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the
boxers"
42: go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears
wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely"
[syn: {wear}, {wear out}, {bust}, {fall apart}]
43: break a piece from a whole; "break a branch from a tree"
[syn: {break off}, {snap off}]
44: become punctured or penetrated; "The skin broke"
45: pierce or penetrate; "The blade broke her skin"
46: be released or become known; of news; "News of her death
broke in the morning" [syn: {get out}, {get around}]
47: cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station
identification"; "let's break for lunch" [syn: {pause}, {intermit}]
48: interrupt the flow of current in; "break a circuit"
49: undergo breaking; "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic
languages"
50: find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof"
51: find the solution or key to; "break the code"
52: change suddenly from one tone quality or register to
another; "Her voice broke to a whisper when she started
to talk about her children"
53: happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political
movements recrudesce from time to time" [syn: {recrudesce},
{develop}]
54: become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The
glass cracked when it was heated" [syn: {crack}, {check}]
55: of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking--he
should no longer sing in the choir"
56: fall sharply; "stock prices broke"
57: fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey"
[syn: {fracture}]
58: diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient's fever broke
last night"
59: weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was
broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of
near-death"
[also: {broken}, {broke}]
Source: WordNet® 2.0
break 1. vt. To cause to be {broken} (in any sense). "Your latest patch
to the editor broke the paragraph commands." 2. v. (of a program) To
stop temporarily, so that it may debugged. The place where it stops is a
`breakpoint'. 3. [techspeak] vi. To send an RS-232 break (two character
widths of line high) over a serial comm line. 4. [Unix] vi. To strike
whatever key currently causes the tty driver to send SIGINT to the
current process. Normally, break (sense 3), delete or {control-C} does
this. 5. `break break' may be said to interrupt a conversation (this is
an example of verb doubling). This usage comes from radio
communications, which in turn probably came from landline
telegraph/teleprinter usage, as badly abused in the Citizen's Band craze
a few years ago.
Source: The Jargon File
