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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Phrases Containing
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Related Articles
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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4
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of break
Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2025
But soon after the union, Rehana says the promises were broken and the psychological abuse and harassment began.
—Carlotta Dotto, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2025
Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 27 Sep. 2025
After their summer break, William and Kate made a joint appearance at the Natural History Museum.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break
Verb
Remove it with a garden rake or have the lawn aerated to break it down.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2025
But soon after the union, Rehana says the promises were broken and the psychological abuse and harassment began.
—Carlotta Dotto, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2025
Noun
This year, their record after the All-Star break hovered within the Top 10 in the Major Leagues, but their 41-57 hole to begin the year was too difficult to emerge from.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 27 Sep. 2025
After their summer break, William and Kate made a joint appearance at the Natural History Museum.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break
Recent Examples of Synonyms for break
Verb
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Eastern members of the alliance, including Estonia, Poland, and Romania, recently reported incursions into their airspace, while drones that disrupted Danish airports are suspected of being linked to Russia.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
29 Sep. 2025
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Sensory deprivation training has become increasingly common over the past decade, particularly when Steph Curry popularized practicing with strobe goggles to disrupt his vision.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The traffic itself generally keeps moving rather than fully stopping.—
Eric D. Lawrence,
USA Today,
28 Sep. 2025
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Fighting on the island had stopped, so the soldiers in the picture were not under fire, and the action of raising the flag (there is a movie of it) took all of a few seconds.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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To reduce the risk of mosquito bites and West Nile virus, health officials recommend using insect repellent and wearing long sleeves and long pants when outdoors, especially during peak mosquito activity at dawn and dusk.—
Caroline Neal,
Louisville Courier Journal,
2 Oct. 2025
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Autos Are an Economic Anchor China’s bold move into electric vehicles began in 2009 as a top-down policy to compete with foreign automakers, cut air pollution and reduce oil imports.—
Rebecca A. Fannin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Its strong first-week performance suggests there is, in fact, an audience hoping to decipher the mind of Ye all of these years later.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
23 Sep. 2025
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Many of which have yet to be deciphered.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Students crowded around dormitory screens, a wedding paused for the final kick, and car horns rang out as flags streamed from open windows.—
Nina Subkhanberdina,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
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At the time, the artist paused the song mid-lyrics to talk to her keyboardist, but collapsed shortly thereafter.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The two galaxies, named NGC 4532 and DDO 137, are in fact falling into the Virgo Cluster at 547 miles (880 kilometers) per second, and in doing so are plowing through a vast cloud of gas that surrounds the cluster.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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Its members need to plow more resources and in-kind technology contributions into Ukraine’s defense industry.—
ANDRIY ZAGORODNYUK,
Foreign Affairs,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Since then Russia is suspected of testing NATO’s resolve by violating the airspace of Norway, Romania, Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia, and now Germany too.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
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Though Russian craft have repeatedly violated NATO airspace during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the shootdowns over Poland represented the first time NATO had shot down Russian drones.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Who did it, how, and why, are the questions that both the protagonist and the readers try to solve simultaneously, normally without any expectations of realism.—
Anders de la Motte,
PEOPLE,
28 Sep. 2025
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This is an important first step to restoring trust for people in our democracy and its ability to solve our problems.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Break.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/break. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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