1
as in to disband
to cease to exist or cause to cease to exist as a group or organization
the band broke up when their arguments over money grew too stressful
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to stop
to come to an end
the meeting broke up when all the business for the day had been completed
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3
as in to divide
to set or force apart
he broke up the rocks in the old stone wall with a crowbar, sending them tumbling to the ground
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4
as in to crack
to yield to mental or emotional stress
the sort of person who would be among the first to break up in a prisoner of war camp
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5
as in to cease
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
police arrived at the scene and immediately broke up the fracas
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6
as in to disrupt
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
break up the feta cheese and spread it over the salad
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7
as in to laugh
to show mirth with an explosive vocal sound
if you break up during the skit, the audience will know that you're in on the joke
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as in split
the act or process of a whole separating into two or more parts or pieces
the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism pretty much signaled the end of the Cold War
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of break up
Braedon Montgomery, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
The traditional bodybuilding protocol has been to start with a loading dose—usually 20 grams per day, broken up into four 5-gram doses, for a week—to quickly saturate muscles.
—Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 28 May 2025
Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 10 June 2025
Their friendship quickly became a subject of political fascination, social media criticism and various spoofs — and their breakup has followed the same track.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for break up
Verb
This season, the 18 queens have been broken up into three groups of six.
—Braedon Montgomery, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
The traditional bodybuilding protocol has been to start with a loading dose—usually 20 grams per day, broken up into four 5-gram doses, for a week—to quickly saturate muscles.
—Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 28 May 2025
Noun
The streamer has released a trailer for Too Much, starring Hacks breakout Stalter as Jessica, an American who is spiraling after a breakup and decides to take a job in London to get a fresh start.
—Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 10 June 2025
Their friendship quickly became a subject of political fascination, social media criticism and various spoofs — and their breakup has followed the same track.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for break up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for break up
Verb
-
As part of a 2025 legal settlement, the district agreed to suspend the courses, disband its curriculum committee, and sever ties with the consultants.—
Tammi Rossman Benjamin,
Oc Register,
29 May 2025
-
The administration is disbanding a Justice Department unit that pursues civil and criminal actions against companies that sell contaminated food and is reassigning its attorneys.—
Stephanie Armour,
Miami Herald,
29 May 2025
Verb
-
On September 2, Border Force officers had stopped two women at London Stansted Airport.—
Stuart James,
New York Times,
6 June 2025
-
Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq have both stopped requiring companies using them for an IPO to have diverse board members.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
5 June 2025
Verb
-
Model parallelism divides the neural network itself across hardware.—
Jitender Jain,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
-
Americans were also divided over what their separation means for the country, according to the survey, which has a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
6 June 2025
Verb
-
Because the game can break on slot pass to Sam Bennett, crack a bar.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
13 June 2025
-
Pre-pandemic, 19 out of its 22 films at least cracked $500 million globally.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
12 June 2025
Verb
-
The company has ceased production and distribution of the products as FDA and the company continue their investigation to correct the issue with the manufacturer.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 June 2025
-
Trump signed an order May 2 directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease funding NPR and PBS.—
Sara Dorn,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
Verb
-
The earthquake disrupted the World Series and damaged the Bay Bridge, Oakland’s Cypress Freeway, and swaths of San Francisco.—
Terry Collins,
USA Today,
8 June 2025
-
The cuts will disrupt ongoing research, ruin experiments and datasets, destroy the careers of aspiring scientists, and deter long-term investments at universities across the country.—
Michael T. Nietzel,
Forbes.com,
7 June 2025
Verb
-
Carney almost laughed at the notion that young audiences, especially internationally, particularly care about the market size of the NBA Finalists.—
Howard Homonoff,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
-
Carrington laughed with teammate Marina Mabrey after the incident.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
5 June 2025
Noun
-
One senior exec who worked for Zaslav at Discovery and WarnerMedia told Deadline the split plan had a certain valedictory quality.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
9 June 2025
-
Although that chapter may have closed, neither Gates nor his reps have spoken on the split.—
Amber Corrine,
VIBE.com,
9 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Break up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/break%20up. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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