# breaker

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbɹeɪkə/ · frequency rank #12,925

## Definitions
1. Something that breaks (something else).
2. A machine for breaking rocks, or for breaking coal at the mines.
3. The building in which such a machine is placed.
4. A person or company that specializes in breaking things; their yard.
5. A person or company that specializes in breaking things; their yard.
6. A person or company that specializes in breaking things; their yard.
7. A wave breaking into foam against the shore, or against a sandbank, or a rock or reef near the surface, considered a useful warning to ships of an underwater hazard
8. A breakdancer.
9. A user of CB radio.
10. Ellipsis of circuit breaker.

## Etymology
From Middle English breker, brekere, equivalent to break + -er. Cognate with Dutch breker, German Low German Breker, German Brecher.

## Easily confused with
- **breaks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-breaks)
- **broker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-broker)
- **brewer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-brewer)
- **Bremer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-bremer)
- **broader** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-broader)
- **breakup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-breakup)
- **breeder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-breeder)
- **Brenner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-brenner)
- **breakers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-breakers)
- **breather** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-breather)
- **break** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/break-vs-breaker)
- **baker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/baker-vs-breaker)
- **brake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brake-vs-breaker)
- **brakes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brakes-vs-breaker)
- **beaver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beaver-vs-breaker)
- **Becker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/becker-vs-breaker)
- **bearer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bearer-vs-breaker)
- **beater** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beater-vs-breaker)
- **braver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braver-vs-breaker)
- **beaker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beaker-vs-breaker)

## Common misspellings (10)
`bbreaker`, `beraker`, `braeker`, `breaekr`, `breakerr`, `breakker`, `breakre`, `brekaer`, `brreaker`, `rbeaker`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/breaker