break open

phrasal verb

broke open; broken open; breaking open; breaks open
: to open or to cause (something) to open suddenly
The pods broke open and the seeds scattered on the wind.
The police broke open the door.
The burglars broke the locked safe open.

Examples of break open in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But everyone is watching to see when Williams’ connection with wide receiver DJ Moore will break open. Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 6 Oct. 2024 River and salmon protectors cheered and cried tears of joy as the coffer dams at Iron Gate and Copco I were broken open and the waters flowed down the river's ancient channel. Debra Utacia Krol, USA TODAY, 2 Sep. 2024 Instead, it’ll be seen as the time when something broke open. Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 26 July 2024 The Cardinal broke open a surprisingly tight game against FCS-level Cal Poly with 34 unanswered points en route to a 41-7 win Saturday at Stanford Stadium. Harold Gutmann, The Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for break open 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'break open.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Break open.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/break%20open. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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