Break vs. Brake: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Published on January 16, 2024
"Break" refers to a pause or to damage something, while "Brake" is a device for slowing or stopping motion.
Key Differences
"Break" and "Brake" are classic examples of homophones – words that sound alike but have different meanings. "Break" is a versatile verb and noun, meaning to split something into parts or a period of rest, respectively. Conversely, "Brake" refers to the mechanism used to slow down or stop a vehicle, functioning both as a noun and a verb.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
When we use "Break" in a sentence, it often implies causing something to separate into pieces, like breaking a glass, or it can mean to interrupt, as in taking a break from work. "Brake," on the other hand, is specifically associated with vehicles and machinery, referring to the act of applying the brakes to reduce speed or the brake system itself.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
The origins of "Break" and "Brake" highlight their distinct usages. "Break" comes from Old English 'brecan,' meaning to break, fracture, or destroy. "Brake," however, has a different lineage, tracing back to the Middle Dutch 'braeke,' meaning a device for slowing or stopping motion. This etymology reflects in their modern applications – "Break" in a broad sense of disruption or damage, and "Brake" in a specific mechanical context.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
The context where "Break" and "Brake" are used is key to their meanings. "Break" finds its place in various scenarios, from physical breakage to metaphorical breaks, like breaking the news. "Brake," however, is almost always used in relation to transportation and machinery, a narrower field of application.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
In summary, while "Break" and "Brake" sound identical, their meanings are distinct and non-interchangeable. "Break" has a broad range of applications, relating to destruction, interruption, or a period of rest. "Brake," however, is narrowly focused on the mechanics of slowing or stopping motion, primarily in vehicles.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
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Comparison Chart
Meaning
To cause separation or damage; a pause or interruption
Device or action to slow or stop a vehicle
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
Usage
Broad, including physical, emotional, and metaphorical contexts
Specific to vehicles and machinery
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
Origin
Old English 'brecan' (to break or fracture)
Middle Dutch 'braeke' (device for stopping)
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
Examples
"Break a glass," "Take a break"
"Hit the brakes," "Car brake system"
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
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Break and Brake Definitions
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Brake
A device for slowing or stopping motion, as of a vehicle, especially by contact friction.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To divide into pieces, as by bending or cutting
Break crackers for a baby.
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Break
To separate into components or parts
Broke the work into discrete tasks.
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Break
To cause to undergo a fracture of (a bone, for example)
The impact of the fall broke his leg.
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Break
To experience a fracture in (a bone, for example)
I broke my wrist when skateboarding.
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Brake
Any of various ferns of the genus Pteris having pinnately compound leaves and including several popular houseplants.
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Break
To destroy the completeness of (a group of related items)
Broke the set of books by giving some away.
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Brake
An area overgrown with dense brushwood, briers, and undergrowth; a thicket.
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Break
To vary or disrupt the uniformity or continuity of
A plain that was broken by low hills.
Caught the ball without breaking stride.
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Break
To open (a shotgun or similar firearm) at the breech, as for loading or cleaning.
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Break
To force or make a way through; puncture or penetrate
The blade barely broke the skin.
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Break
To make or bring about by cutting or forcing
Break a trail through the woods.
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Brake
A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or aerodynamic drag, can also be used); also, the controls or apparatus used to engage such a mechanism such as the pedal in a car.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
The act of braking, of using a brake to slow down a machine or vehicle
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To find the solution or key to; uncover the basic elements and arrangement of
Break a code.
Break a spy ring.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
(engineering) An apparatus for testing the power of a steam engine or other motor by weighing the amount of friction that the motor will overcome; a friction brake.
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Brake
(figuratively) Something used to retard or stop some action, process etc.
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Brake
(military) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.
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Break
To overcome or put an end to, especially by force or strong opposition
Break a deadlock in negotiations.
Break a strike.
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Break
To weaken or destroy, as in spirit or health; overwhelm with adversity
"For a hero loves the world till it breaks him" (William Butler Yeats).
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To cause the ruin or failure of (an enterprise, for example)
Indiscretion broke both marriage and career.
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Brake
That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.
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Break
(Law) To cause (a will) to be invalidated because of inconsistency with state inheritance laws or as a result of other legal insufficiency.
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Break
To cause to give up a habit
They managed to break themselves of smoking.
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Brake
(transitive) To bruise and crush; to knead
The farmer's son brakes the flax while mother brakes the bread dough
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
A fern of the genus Pteris, esp. the Pteris aquilina, common in almost all countries. It has solitary stems dividing into three principal branches. Less properly: Any fern.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
(Games) To make the opening shot that scatters the grouped balls in billiards or pool.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes.
Rounds rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,To shelter thee from tempest and from rain.
He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
An instrument or machine to break or bruise the woody part of flax or hemp so that it may be separated from the fiber.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(Sports) To win a game on the opponent's service, as in tennis
Broke twice in the first set.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
An extended handle by means of which a number of men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To come forth or begin from a state of latency; come into being or emerge
A storm was breaking over Miami. Crocuses broke from the soil.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
A sharp bit or snaffle.
Pampered jades . . . which need nor break nor bit.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc.
A horse . . . which Philip had bought . . . and because of his fierceness kept him within a brake of iron bars.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To change direction or move suddenly
The quarterback broke to the left to avoid a tackler.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(Baseball) To curve near or over the plate
The pitch broke away from the batter.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To change suddenly from one tone quality or musical register to another
His voice broke into a falsetto.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
A piece of mechanism for retarding or stopping motion by friction, as of a carriage or railway car, by the pressure of rubbers against the wheels, or of clogs or ratchets against the track or roadway, or of a pivoted lever against a wheel or drum in a machine.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Brake
An apparatus for testing the power of a steam engine, or other motor, by weighing the amount of friction that the motor will overcome; a friction brake.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To discontinue an association, an agreement, or a relationship
The partners broke over a financial matter. One hates to break with an old friend.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Brake
Any of various ferns of the genus Pteris having pinnately compound leaves and including several popular houseplants
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
To diminish in or lose physical or spiritual strength; weaken or succumb
Their good cheer broke after repeated setbacks.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
Large coarse fern often several feet high; essentially weed ferns; cosmopolitan
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To decrease sharply in value or quantity
Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
Stop travelling by applying a brake;
We had to brake suddenly when a chicken crossed the road
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To collapse or crash into surf or spray
Waves that were breaking along the shore.
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Jan 05, 2024
Brake
Cause to stop by applying the brakes;
Brake the car before you go into a curve
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(Informal) To take place or happen; proceed
Things have been breaking well for them.
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Break
The result of breaking, as a crack, separation, or opening
A break in the clouds.
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Break
An interruption or a disruption in continuity or regularity
Television programming without commercial breaks.
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Break
An often sudden piece of luck, especially good luck
Finally got the big break in life.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
An allowance or indulgence; accommodating treatment
The boss gave me a break because I'd been sick.
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Break
A favorable price or reduction
A tax break for charitable contributions.
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Break
A severing of ties
Made a break with the past.
A break between the two families.
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Break
A series of three dots ( ... ) used to indicate an omission in a text.
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Break
(Geology) A marked change in topography such as a fault or deep valley.
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Break
(Nautical) The point of discontinuity between two levels on the deck of a ship.
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Break
An improvised instrumental solo played in jazz and other popular music while the other musicians stop or play softly.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
A change in a horse's gait to one different from that set by the rider.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(Sports) The swerving of a ball from a straight path of flight, as in baseball or cricket.
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Break
(Games) The opening shot that scatters the grouped balls in billiards or pool.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(Games) A run or unbroken series of successful shots, as in billiards or croquet.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
Sports & Games Failure to score a strike or a spare in a given bowling frame.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly.
If the vase falls to the floor, it might break.
In order to tend to the accident victim, he will break the window of the car.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
To crack or fracture (bone) under a physical strain.
His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest.
She broke her neck.
He slipped on the ice and broke his leg.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.
Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me?
The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of.
Her child's death broke Angela.
Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war.
The interrogator hoped to break her to get her testimony against her accomplices.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To turn an animal into a beast of burden.
You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(intransitive) To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.
My heart is breaking.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.
I've got to break this habit I have of biting my nails.
To break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey
I had won four games in a row, but now you've broken my streak of luck.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To ruin financially.
The recession broke some small businesses.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To violate; to fail to adhere to.
When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law.
He broke his vows by cheating on his wife.
Break one's word
Time travel would break the laws of physics.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To go down, in terms of temperature, indicating that the most dangerous part of the illness has passed.
Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To begin or end.
We ran to find shelter before the storm broke.
Around midday the storm broke, and the afternoon was calm and sunny.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
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.
Changing the rules to let white have three extra queens would break chess.
I broke the RPG by training every member of my party to cast fireballs as well as use swords.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.
On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke.
Did you two break the trolley by racing with it?
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression.
Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(specifically) To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(specifically) To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination, or the like.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.
The cavalry were not able to break the British squares.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(intransitive) To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily; to go on break.
Let's break for lunch.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately) hit something else beneath.
He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To disclose or make known an item of news, a band, etc.
The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous.
I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back.
When news of their divorce broke, ...
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To change a steady state abruptly.
His coughing broke the silence.
His turning on the lights broke the enchantment.
With the mood broken, what we had been doing seemed pretty silly.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To suddenly become.
Things began breaking bad for him when his parents died.
The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men, generally to go up, in women, sometimes to go down; to crack.
His voice breaks when he gets emotional.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To surpass or do better than (a specific number); to do better than (a record), setting a new record.
He broke the men's 100-meter record.
I can't believe she broke 3 under par!
The policeman broke sixty on a residential street in his hurry to catch the thief.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver.
He needs to break serve to win the match.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement.
Is it your or my turn to break?
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To end (a connection); to disconnect.
The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch.
The referee broke the boxers' clinch.
I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(intransitive) To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.
To break flax
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(transitive) To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(intransitive) To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change gait.
To break into a run or gallop
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Break
To suspend the execution of a program during debugging so that the state of the program can be investigated.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(computing) To cause, or allow the occurrence of, a line break.
Zero-width non-breaking space
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Break
An instance of breaking something into two or more pieces.
The femur has a clean break and so should heal easily.
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Break
A physical space that opens up in something or between two things.
The sun came out in a break in the clouds.
He waited minutes for a break in the traffic to cross the highway.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
A scheduled interval of days or weeks between periods of school instruction; a holiday.
Winter break, spring break
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention.
Big break
Lucky break, bad break
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Break
An act of escaping.
Make a break for it, for the door
It was a clean break.
Prison break
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Break
(computing) A keystroke or other signal that causes a program to terminate or suspend execution.
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Break
A change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(snooker) The number of points scored by one player in one visit to the table.
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Break
(golf) The curve imparted to the ball's motion on the green due to slope or grass texture.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(surfing) A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).
The final break in the Greenmount area is Kirra Point.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(dated) A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(music) A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.
The fiddle break was amazing; it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
(music) The point in the musical scale at which a woodwind instrument is designed to overblow, that is, to move from its lower to its upper register.
Crossing the break smoothly is one of the first lessons the young clarinettist needs to master.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
(music) The transition area between a singer's vocal registers; the passaggio.
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Break
An area along a river that features steep banks, bluffs, or gorges (e.g., Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, US).
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Break
(music) A section of extended repetition of the percussion break to a song, created by a hip-hop DJ as rhythmic dance music.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
Katharine, break thy mind to me.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . . To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey.
Go, release them, Ariel;My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
An old man, broken with the storms of state.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.
I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To impart, as news or information; to broach; - with to, and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as, to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose cautiously to a friend.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle.
Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.
With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks,Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
I see a great officer broken.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.
Else the bottle break, and the wine runneth out.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn.
The day begins to break, and night is fled.
And from the turf a fountain broke,and gurgled at our feet.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To burst forth violently, as a storm.
The clouds are still above; and, while I speak,A second deluge o'er our head may break.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking.
At length the darkness begins to break.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
See how the dean begins to break;Poor gentleman! he droops apace.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To fall in business; to become bankrupt.
He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes break, and come to poverty.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To fail in musical quality; as, a singer's voice breaks when it is strained beyond its compass and a tone or note is not completed, but degenerates into an unmusical sound instead. Also, to change in tone, as a boy's voice at puberty.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
To fall out; to terminate friendship.
To break upon the score of danger or expense is to be mean and narrow-spirited.
Fear me not, man; I will not break away.
He had broken down almost at the outset.
This radiant from the circling crowd he broke.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship.
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Jan 05, 2024
Break
An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
An interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc.
All modern trash isSet forth with numerous breaks and dashes.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
The first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Some abrupt occurrence that interrupts;
The telephone is an annoying interruption
There was a break in the action when a player was hurt
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
(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
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
A personal or social separation (as between opposing factions);
They hoped to avoid a break in relations
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
A pause from doing something (as work);
We took a 10-minute break
He took time out to recuperate
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
A time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Breaking of hard tissue such as bone;
It was a nasty fracture
The break seems to have been caused by a fall
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
The occurrence of breaking;
The break in the dam threatened the valley
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
(tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving;
He was up two breaks in the second set
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
An act of delaying or interrupting the continuity;
It was presented without commercial breaks
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare;
The break in the eighth frame cost him the match
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Terminate;
She interrupted her pregnancy
Break a lucky streak
Break the cycle of poverty
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Become separated into pieces or fragments;
The figurine broke
The freshly baked loaf fell apart
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments;
He broke the glass plate
She broke the match
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Render inoperable or ineffective;
You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Act in disregard of laws and rules;
Offend all laws of humanity
Violate the basic laws or human civilization
Break a law
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Move away or escape suddenly;
The horses broke from the stable
Three inmates broke jail
Nobody can break out--this prison is high security
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up;
Break into tears
Erupt in anger
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
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!
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Make submissive, obedient, or useful;
The horse was tough to break
I broke in the new intern
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns;
This sentence violates the rules of syntax
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
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
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
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
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Interrupt a continued activity;
She had broken with the traditional patterns
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing;
The ranks broke
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity;
The flat plain was broken by tall mesas
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Cause to give up a habit;
She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Come forth or begin from a state of latency;
The first winter storm broke over New York
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Happen or take place;
Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Cause the failure or ruin of;
His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage
This play will either make or break the playwright
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
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
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Assign to a lower position; reduce in rank;
She was demoted because she always speaks up
He was broken down to Sargeant
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Reduce to bankruptcy;
My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!
The slump in the financial markets smashed him
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
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
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Exchange for smaller units of money;
I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Destroy the completeness of a set of related items;
The book dealer would not break the set
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Go to pieces;
The lawn mower finally broke
The gears wore out
The old chair finally fell apart completely
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Be released or become known; of news;
News of her death broke in the morning
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Cease an action temporarily;
We pause for station identification
Let's break for lunch
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another;
Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Happen;
Report the news as it develops
These political movements recrudesce from time to time
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Become fractured; break or crack on the surface only;
The glass cracked when it was heated
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Of the male voice in puberty;
His voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Diminish or discontinue abruptly;
The patient's fever broke last night
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Break
Weaken or destroy in spirit or body;
His resistance was broken
A man broken by the terrible experience of near-death
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 05, 2024
Repeatedly Asked Queries
What does "break" mean?
"Break" can mean to damage or split something, or a pause.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
Is "brake" always related to vehicles?
Mostly, but it can refer to any stopping mechanism.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
How is "brake" used in a sentence?
"Brake" is used like, "She hit the brake when a deer ran onto the road."
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
Are there different types of brakes?
Yes, like disc brakes and drum brakes.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
Can "brake" refer to a person's action?
Indirectly, as in controlling the vehicle's brakes.
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
Can "break" mean to render something inoperative?
Yes, like "break the machine."
Shumaila Saeed
Jan 16, 2024
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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