What does break mean?

What does break mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does break mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity(the telephone is an annoying interruption there was a break in the action when a player was hurt)[v] terminate(She interrupted her pregnancy break a lucky streak break the cycle of poverty)[n] an unexpected piece of good luck(h

break

break - The Free Dictionary

[n] some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
(the telephone is an annoying interruption there was a break in the action when a player was hurt)

[v] terminate
(She interrupted her pregnancy break a lucky streak break the cycle of poverty)

[n] an unexpected piece of good luck
(he finally got his big break)

[v] become separated into pieces or fragments
(The figurine broke The freshly baked loaf fell apart)

[n] (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 he studied the faulting of the earth's crust)

[v] render inoperable or ineffective
(You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!)

[n] a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
(they hoped to avoid a break in relations)

[v] ruin completely
(He busted my radio!)

[n] a pause from doing something (as work)
(we took a 10-minute break he took time out to recuperate)

[v] destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
(He broke the glass plate She broke the match)

[n] the act of breaking something
(the breakage was unavoidable)

[v] act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
(offend all laws of humanity violate the basic laws or human civilization break a law break a promise)

[n] a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something

[v] move away or escape suddenly
(The horses broke from the stable Three inmates broke jail Nobody can break out--this prison is high security)

[n] breaking of hard tissue such as bone
(it was a nasty fracture the break seems to have been caused by a fall)

[v] scatter or part
(The clouds broke after the heavy downpour)

[n] the occurrence of breaking
(the break in the dam threatened the valley)

[v] force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
(break into tears erupt in anger)

[n] an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion)
(then there was a break in her voice)

[v] prevent completion
(stop the project break off the negotiations)

[n] the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool

[v] enter someone's (virtual or real) 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! who broke into my account last night?)

[n] (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving
(he was up two breaks in the second set)

[v] make submissive, obedient, or useful
(The horse was tough to break I broke in the new intern)

[n] an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
(it was presented without commercial breaks there was a gap in his account)

[v] fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns
(This sentence violates the rules of syntax)

[n] a sudden dash
(he made a break for the open door)

[v] surpass in excellence
(She bettered her own record break a record)

[n] any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare
(the break in the eighth frame cost him the match)

[v] 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 unwrap the evidence in the murder case)

[n] an escape from jail
(the breakout was carefully planned)

[v] come into being
(light broke over the horizon Voices broke in the air)

[v] 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)

[v] interrupt a continued activity
(She had broken with the traditional patterns)

[v] make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
(The ranks broke)

[v] curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
(The surf broke)

[v] lessen in force or effect
(soften a shock break a fall)

[v] be broken in
(If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress)

[v] come to an end
(The heat wave finally broke yesterday)

[v] vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
(The flat plain was broken by tall mesas)

[v] cause to give up a habit
(She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes)

[v] give up
(break cigarette smoking)

[v] come forth or begin from a state of latency
(The first winter storm broke over New York)

[v] happen or take place
(Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months)

[v] cause the failure or ruin of
(His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage This play will either make or break the playwright)

[v] invalidate by judicial action
(The will was broken)

[v] 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)

[v] assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
(She was demoted because she always speaks up He was broken down to Sergeant)

[v] reduce to bankruptcy
(My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me! The slump in the financial markets smashed him)

[v] change directions suddenly

[v] emerge from the surface of a body of water
(The whales broke)

[v] 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)

[v] do a break dance
(Kids were break-dancing at the street corner)

[v] exchange for smaller units of money
(I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy)

[v] destroy the completeness of a set of related items
(The book dealer would not break the set)

[v] make the opening shot that scatters the balls

[v] separate from a clinch, in boxing
(The referee broke the boxers)

[v] go to pieces
(The lawn mower finally broke The gears wore out The old chair finally fell apart completely)

[v] break a piece from a whole
(break a branch from a tree)

[v] become punctured or penetrated
(The skin broke)

[v] pierce or penetrate
(The blade broke her skin)

[v] be released or become known; of news
(News of her death broke in the morning)

[v] cease an action temporarily
(We pause for station identification let's break for lunch)

[v] interrupt the flow of current in
(break a circuit)

[v] undergo breaking
(The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages)

[v] find a flaw in
(break an alibi break down a proof)

[v] find the solution or key to
(break the code)

[v] change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another
(Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children)

[v] happen
(Report the news as it develops These political movements recrudesce from time to time)

[v] become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
(The glass cracked when it was heated)

[v] crack; of the male voice in puberty
(his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir)

[v] fall sharply
(stock prices broke)

[v] fracture a bone of
(I broke my foot while playing hockey)

[v] diminish or discontinue abruptly
(The patient's fever broke last night)

[v] weaken or destroy in spirit or body
(His resistance was broken a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death)

Other vocabulary

b, b battery, b cell, b complex, b horizon, b lymphocyte, b vitamin, b-52, b-complex vitamin, b-flat clarinet, b-girl, b-horizon, b-meson, b-scan ultrasonography, b. b. king, b. f. skinner, b.c., b.c.e., b.o., b.t.u., b.th.u., ba, baa, baa-lamb, baader meinhof gang, baader-meinhof gang, baal, baal merodach, baas, baba, r, r and b, r-2, r. b. cattell, r. buckminster fuller, r. j. mitchell, r.c., r.v., ra, rabat, rabato, rabbet, rabbet joint, rabbet plane, rabbi, rabbi moses ben maimon, rabbinate, rabbinic, rabbinical, rabbit, rabbit bandicoot, rabbit brush, rabbit burrow, rabbit bush, rabbit ears, rabbit fever, rabbit food, rabbit hole, rabbit hutch, rabbit on

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.