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PlainSpell

breach

/ˈbɹit͡ʃ/noun, verb

breach is spelled B-R-E-A-C-H: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “breach vs breech” about 1,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, breach means “A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of breach is breaches.

How many letters and syllables are in breach?

Letters6: B-R-E-A-C-H
Syllables1
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,778th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is breach?

Breach appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce breach?

  • UK /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/
  • UK [ˈbɹʷɪi̯t͡ʃ]
  • US /ˈbɹit͡ʃ/

Breach has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-breach.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-breach.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with breach

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

breach vs breech1,900 G

Sounds like: breech (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with breach?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as breach from its last stressed vowel (/itʃ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of breach

  • breaches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • breaching participle, present
  • breached participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does breach mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence.

  2. 2

    The act of breaking, in a figurative sense.

  3. 3

    A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment.

    breach of promise

  4. 4

    A breaking up of amicable relations, a falling out.

  5. 5

    A difference in opinions, social class, etc.

  6. 6

    A breaking of waters, as over a vessel or a coastal defence; the waters themselves.

    A clear breach is when the waves roll over the vessel without breaking. A clean breach is when everything on deck is swept away.

  7. 7

    A breaking out upon; an assault.

  8. 8

    archaicA bruise; a wound.

verb

  1. 1

    To make a breach in.

    They breached the outer wall, but not the main one.

  2. 2

    To violate or break.

    breach an agreement

  3. 3

    To break into a ship or into a coastal defence.

  4. 4

    To suffer a breach.

  5. 5

    To leap out of the water.

  6. 6

    informalTo charge, convict or take legal action against someone due to not meeting a legal obligation.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Breach in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbrèche (a gap or opening made by breaking or battering), infraction, violation, bris (break of a law or obligation), brouille (breaking up of amicable relations)
GermanBruch, Bresche (a gap or opening made by breaking or battering), Verstoß (break of a law or obligation), Brechen (breaking of waves)
Portuguesebrecha, fissura (a gap or opening made by breaking or battering), infração, violação (break of a law or obligation), término (breaking up of amicable relations)
Spanishbrecha, batería, boquete, adentramiento, expugnación (a gap or opening made by breaking or battering), adentrarse en (to make a breach in)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does breach come from?

From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after breach