breaking
/ˈbɹeɪkɪŋ/noun, verb
breaking is spelled B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 55 times per million words in written English, the 1,865th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, breaking means “The act by which something is broken” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of breaking is breakings.
How many letters and syllables are in breaking?
| Letters | 8: B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 55 times per million words; the 1,865th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is breaking?
Breaking appears 55 times per million words in written English, the 1,865th 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 breaking?
- /ˈbɹeɪkɪŋ/
Breaking has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-breaking.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with breaking
Sounds like: braking (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of breaking
- breakings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does breaking mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act by which something is broken.
- 2
A change of a vowel to a diphthong.
- 3
A form of ornamentation in which groups of short notes are used instead of long ones.
- 4
Breakdancing.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of break
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Breaking in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in linguistics: vowel breaking:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Brechung |
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.