break

Where “break” sits in English frequency

Definition

1. 1
   To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly.
2. 2
   To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly.
3. 3
   To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.
4. 4
   To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of.
5. 5
   To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of.
6. 6
   To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.
7. 7
   To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.
8. 8
   To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.
9. 9
   To ruin financially.
10. 10
    To fail in business; to go broke, to become bankrupt.
11. 11
    Of prices on the stock exchange: to fall suddenly.
12. 12
    To violate; to fail to adhere to.
13. 13
    To go down, in terms of temperature, indicating that the most dangerous part of the illness has passed.
14. 14
    To end.
15. 15
    To begin or end.
16. 16
    To arrive.
17. 17
    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.
18. 18
    To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.
19. 19
    To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.
20. 20
    To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.
21. 21
    To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.
22. 22
    To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.
23. 23
    To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.
24. 24
    To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.
25. 25
    To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.
26. 26
    To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily; to go on break.
27. 27
    To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately) hit something else beneath.
28. 28
    To disclose or make known an item of news, a band, etc.
29. 29
    To become audible suddenly.
30. 30
    To change a steady state abruptly.
31. 31
    To (attempt to) disengage and flee to; to make a run for.
32. 32
    To suddenly become.
33. 33
    To become deeper at puberty.
34. 34
    To alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men, generally to go up, in women, sometimes to go down; to crack.
35. 35
    To de-emulsify.
36. 36
    To surpass or do better than (a specific number); to do better than (a record), setting a new record.
37. 37
    To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver.
38. 38
    To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement.
39. 39
    To remove one of the two men on (a point).
40. 40
    To demote; to reduce the military rank of.
41. 41
    To end (a connection); to disconnect.
42. 42
    To counter-attack.
43. 43
    To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
44. 44
    To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
45. 45
    To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.
46. 46
    To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
47. 47
    To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change gait.
48. 48
    To fall out; to terminate friendship.
49. 49
    To terminate the execution of a program before normal completion.
50. 50
    To suspend the execution of a program during debugging so that the state of the program can be investigated.
51. 51
    To cause, or allow the occurrence of, a line break.

Etymology

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). Doublet of bray. Cognates Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”). Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment. The modern pronunciation shows an irregular change of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language; contrast this with the development of other words such as speak and wreak.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbreak,berak,braek,breakk,breka,brreak,rbeak

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of break - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Frequently Asked Questions