Definition of break verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

break

verb

/breɪk/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they break	/breɪk/ /breɪk/
he / she / it breaks	/breɪks/ /breɪks/
past simple broke	/brəʊk/ /brəʊk/
past participle broken	/ˈbrəʊkən/ /ˈbrəʊkən/
-ing form breaking	/ˈbreɪkɪŋ/ /ˈbreɪkɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

jump to other results

in pieces

[intransitive, transitive] to be damaged and separated into two or more parts, as a result of force; to damage something in this way

All the windows broke with the force of the blast.
The bag broke under the weight of the bottles inside it.
break in/into something She dropped the plate and it broke into pieces.
The boat hit a rock and broke in half.
break something to break a cup/window
She fell off a ladder and broke her arm.
to break a leg/bone
break something in/into something He broke the chocolate in two.

Homophones brake | breakbrake break

/breɪk/

brake noun
- He accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.
brake verb
- There wasn't even time for the driver to brake.
break verb
- Break the biscuits into small pieces.
break noun
- I really need a break from this.

Vocabulary Building Words that mean ‘break’Words that mean ‘break’

burst	The balloon hit a tree and burst.
crack	The ice started to crack.
crumble	Crumble the cheese into a bowl.
cut	Now cut the wire in two.
fracture	He fell and fractured his hip.
shatter	The vase hit the floor and shattered.
smash	Vandals had smashed two windows.
snap	I snapped the pencil in half.
split	The bag had split open on the way home.
tear	She tore the letter into pieces.

All these verbs, except cut, can be used with or without an object.

Collocations InjuriesInjuriesBeing injured

have a fall/an injury
receive/suffer/sustain a serious injury/a hairline fracture/(especially British English) whiplash/a gunshot wound
hurt/injure your ankle/back/leg
damage the brain/an ankle ligament/your liver/the optic nerve/the skin
pull/strain/tear a hamstring/ligament/muscle/tendon
sprain/twist your ankle/wrist
break a bone/your collarbone/your leg/three ribs
fracture/crack your skull
break/chip/knock out/lose a tooth
burst/perforate your eardrum
dislocate your finger/hip/jaw/shoulder
bruise/cut/graze your arm/knee/shoulder
burn/scald yourself/your tongue
bang/bump/hit/ (informal) bash your elbow/head/knee (on/against something)

Treating injuries

treat somebody for burns/a head injury/a stab wound
examine/clean/dress/bandage/treat a bullet wound
repair a damaged/torn ligament/tendon/cartilage
amputate/cut off an arm/a finger/a foot/a leg/a limb
put on/ (formal) apply/take off (especially North American English) a Band-Aid™/(British English) a plaster/a bandage
need/require/put in/ (especially British English) have (out)/ (North American English) get (out) stitches
put on/rub on/ (formal) apply cream/ointment/lotion
have/receive/undergo (British English) physiotherapy/(North American English) physical therapy

Extra Examples

The glass broke into hundreds of pieces.
How did this dish get broken?
I didn't mean to break the window.
She broke the bar of chocolate in two and gave one half to me.

Want to learn more?

Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.

stop working

[intransitive, transitive] to stop working as a result of being damaged; to damage something and stop it from working

My watch has broken.
break something I think I've broken the washing machine.

Topics Engineeringa1

skin

[transitive] break the skin to cut the surface of the skin and make it bleed

The dog bit me but didn't break the skin.

Topics Health problemsb1

law/promise

[transitive] break something to do something that is against the law; to not keep a promise, etc.

I had broken the law and deserved to be punished.
People should not be allowed to break the rules.
to break a promise
to break an agreement/a contract/your word
to break an appointment (= not to come to it)
He was breaking the speed limit (= travelling faster than the law allows).

Extra Examples

They insist that they have not broken any rules.
Would you be willing to break the law to achieve your goal?
She had broken the conditions of her bail.
He has already broken three appointments.
Some companies have broken sanctions by supplying arms to the warring states.
I've never broken my word; why should I do it now?
Perhaps it is more courageous to break a promise if it means saving the economy.

Topics Crime and punishmentb1

stop for short time

[intransitive, transitive] to stop doing something for a while, especially when it is time to eat or have a drink

break for something Let's break for lunch.
Parliament breaks for recess next week.
We broke early and went for a drink.
break something Their sleep was broken by noise from the street.
(especially British English) We broke our journey in Oxford (= stopped in Oxford on the way to the place we were going to).

end something

[transitive] break something to interrupt something so that it ends suddenly

She broke the silence by coughing.
A tree broke his fall (= stopped him as he was falling).
The phone rang and broke my train of thought.
Someone laughed suddenly and the spell was broken.

[transitive] break something to make something end by using force or strong action

an attempt to break the year-long siege
Management has not succeeded in breaking the strike.

[transitive] break something to end a connection with something or a relationship with somebody

He broke all ties with his parents.

escape

[intransitive] break free (from somebody/something) (of a person or an object) to manage to get away from or out of a position in which they have been caught

He finally managed to break free from his attacker.

destroy, be destroyed

[transitive, intransitive] break (somebody/something) to destroy something or make somebody/something weaker; to become weak or be destroyed

to break somebody’s morale/resistance/resolve/spirit
The government was determined to break the power of the trade unions.
The scandal broke him (= ruined his reputation and destroyed his confidence).
She broke under questioning (= was no longer able to bear it) and confessed to everything.

in tennis

[transitive] break somebody's serve to win a game in which it is your opponent's turn to serve (= hit the ball across the net first)

Williams broke her opponent's serve five times.

make somebody feel bad

[transitive] break somebody to make somebody feel so sad, lonely, etc. that they cannot live a normal life

The death of his wife broke him completely.

Topics Feelingsc2

of weather

[intransitive] to change suddenly, usually after a period when it has been fine

On the third day the weather broke and they had a violent storm.

of clouds

[intransitive] to show an opening

The clouds broke and the sun came out.

surface

break the surface to come up through the surface of water in the sea, a pool, etc.

When his head broke the surface he took in deep gulps of air.

of day/dawn/storm

[intransitive] when the day or dawn or a storm breaks, it begins

Dawn was breaking when they finally left.

of news

[intransitive] if a piece of news breaks, it becomes known

There was a public outcry when the scandal broke.

[transitive] break it/the news to somebody to be the first to tell somebody some bad news

Who's going to break it to her?
I'm sorry to be the one to break the news to you.
Just break the news to him gently.

of voice

[intransitive] if somebody’s voice breaks, it changes its tone because of emotion

Her voice broke as she told us what had happened.

[intransitive] when a boy’s voice breaks, it becomes permanently deeper at about the age of 13 or 14Topics Life stagesc2

a record

[transitive] break a record to do something better, faster, etc. than anyone has ever done it before

She had broken the world 100 metres record.
The movie broke all box-office records.

of waves

[intransitive] when waves break, they fall and are dissolved into foam, usually near land

the sound of waves breaking on the beach
The sea was breaking over the wrecked ship.

something secret

[transitive] break a code/cipher to find the meaning of something secret

He needed only twenty minutes to break the encryption code.

money

[transitive] break something (especially North American English) to change a banknote for coins

Can you break a twenty-dollar bill?

Word OriginOld English brecan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch breken and German brechen, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin frangere ‘to break’.

Idioms Idioms containing break are at the entries for the nouns and adjectives in the idioms, for example break somebody’s heart is at heart.

See break in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee break in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

Check pronunciation: break

Other results

All matches

Phrasal verbs

Idioms

Nearby words

sufficiently

adverb

From the Word list

OPAL written words

Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day