Synonyms of break
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as in to disrupt 
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as in to stop
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as in to reduce
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as in to decipher
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as in to pause
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as in to plow
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as in to violate
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as in to solve
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as in to damage
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as in to die
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as in to retreat
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as in to wear
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as in to circulate
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as in to ruin
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as in to begin
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as in to veer
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as in to depress
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as in to exceed
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as in to surface
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as in pause
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as in vacation
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as in gap
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as in opportunity
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as in accident
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as in escape
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Example Sentences
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1
as in to disrupt
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
hated telling her that I had broken her favorite glass vase
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2
as in to stop
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
the final vote broke the deadlock
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3
as in to reduce
to bring to a lower grade or rank
the captain was broken to lieutenant commander for disobeying a direct order from his group commander
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4
as in to decipher
to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language
Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park mathematicians broke the Enigma code being used by the Nazis
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5
as in to pause
to come to a temporary halt in one's activity
she broke from her ruminations to find that it was already dinnertime
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6
7
as in to violate
to fail to keep
had to confess that he had broken his promise not to share their conversation with anyone
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8
as in to solve
to find an answer for through reasoning
Professor Bates broke the problem when she realized that it was possible to synthesize the necessary compounds
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9
as in to damage
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
I broke a tooth on the hard candy
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10
as in to die
to stop functioning
after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day
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11
as in to retreat
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening
the herd of gazelles broke when they saw the lions racing toward them from the ridge above
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12
as in to wear
to use up all the physical energy of
the trek up the mountain just about broke me
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13
as in to circulate
to become known
as soon as the scandal broke, the CEO fled the country
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as in to begin
to come into existence
the crisis had passed, and a new day was breaking
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16
as in to veer
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course
the running back broke to his left before running out of bounds
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17
as in to depress
to diminish the price or value of
distressing economic news that will break many energy stocks
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18
as in to exceed
to go beyond the limit of
a menu with prices that is likely to break the budgets of all but the wealthiest of diners
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1
as in pause
a momentary halt in an activity
there was a brief break after the first movement as the doors to the concert hall were opened and the latecomers were allowed in
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2
as in vacation
a period during which the usual routine of school or work is suspended
most of the students at the boarding school are going home for Christmas break
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3
as in gap
an open space in a barrier (as a wall or hedge)
the rancher repaired the break in the fence where the horse had gotten through
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5
as in accident
an unexpected benefit or advantage resulting from the uncertain course of events
a guy who just seems to get all the breaks in life
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6
as in escape
the act or an instance of getting free from danger or confinement
a desperate break from that hellhole
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of break
Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2025
Didion broke barriers, refusing to feel remorse over valuing her career above all else and forging a language that can only be described as Didionesque.
—Leigh Haber, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2025
Kirsty Hatcher, People.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Harvard’s choice to fight back is a notable break from other major institutions, such as Columbia University, which in effect caved to Trump’s demands.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break
Verb
Aaron Judge’s bat broke on a grounder to third base in the third inning.
—Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2025
Didion broke barriers, refusing to feel remorse over valuing her career above all else and forging a language that can only be described as Didionesque.
—Leigh Haber, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2025
Noun
In another break from tradition, his burial will also not require the traditional three coffins consisting of cypress, lead and oak.
—Kirsty Hatcher, People.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Harvard’s choice to fight back is a notable break from other major institutions, such as Columbia University, which in effect caved to Trump’s demands.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break
Recent Examples of Synonyms for break
Verb
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When someone has it, their immune system goes into overdrive, producing more antibodies (or immunoglobulins, hence the name) than necessary that disrupt typical organ function.—
David Oliver,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2025
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The administration’s moves will also halt a first-of-its-kind study of the causes of thousands of firefighters’ cancer cases and disrupt a program that provides health care to emergency personnel who responded to the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.—
Mark Olalde,
ProPublica,
21 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The confrontation stopped and restarted as the man appeared to try to get the knife away from Perez over the fence.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
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When the American money stopped flowing, the local soup kitchen closed and Ms. Musa went out searching for food.—
Declan Walsh,
New York Times,
19 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The goal of this prescribed burn is to decrease the existing fire hazard and to prevent and reduce the impact of future fires in the area.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
21 Apr. 2025
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Ars Video The technique reduced the lag between the patient’s brain signals and the resultant audio from the eight seconds the group had achieved previously to one second.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
21 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The generous release of Tahoe 100M is a potential turning point for deciphering cancer vulnerabilities at scale and can trigger an open-source data sharing momentum in cancer research.—
Amelia Palermo,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
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The Dallas Cowboys are one of those teams deciphering between the talents in the final stack of players, as owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on Tuesday that this is the latest that the team has ever gone without having their board in place.—
Nick Harris,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
23 Apr. 2025
Verb
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After the Trump administration paused its reciprocal tariffs, we’re left, at least for now, with the baseline 10% global tariff, including on major cocoa exporters to the U.S., such as Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Ghana, the Dominican Republic and Papua New Guinea.—
Brett Owens,
Forbes.com,
23 Apr. 2025
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While Trump paused most reciprocal tariffs on foreign trading partners — minus China — his 10 percent baseline import tax is still in place.—
The Hill Staff,
The Hill,
23 Apr. 2025
Verb
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One slug had broken a shoulder; the other had gone in between two ribs, plowed through the lungs, and lodged against a rib on the far side.—
Bill Thomas,
Outdoor Life,
24 Apr. 2025
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But Beijing is plowing credit from that sector into industrial policy efforts that are boosting competitiveness.—
Kurt M. Campbell,
Foreign Affairs,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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In legal terms, the lawsuits are saying oil and gas companies violated consumer-protection laws and committed common-law civil violations such as negligence.—
Hannah Wiseman,
The Conversation,
18 Apr. 2025
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The sheriff’s office said it’s launched an internal investigation, but so far has not found any signs that the veteran deputy violated any policies.—
Emily Shapiro,
ABC News,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The hedge-fund collapses and Russian debt default in the 1998 financial panic and the U.S. sovereign-debt standoff in 2011 also did not feel as if they had been solved at the point the stock market started rebounding.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
26 Apr. 2025
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His presence is part of the peculiar riddle that Djokovic, who turns 38 on May 22, has been trying to solve for going on two years now.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Break.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/break. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
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