breach

noun

\ ˈbrēch

Definition of breach

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : infraction or violation of a law, obligation, tie, or standard a breach of trust sued them for breach of contract

2a : a broken, ruptured, or torn condition or area a breach of the skin the leak was a major security breach

b : a gap (as in a wall) made by battering fixing a breach in the fence once more unto the breach, dear friends, … or close the wall up with our English dead— Shakespeare

3a : a break in accustomed friendly relations caused a breach between the two countries

b : a temporary gap in continuity : hiatus a breach of routine

4 : a leap especially of a whale out of water

breach

verb

breached; breaching; breaches

Definition of breach (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to make a gap in by battering : to make a breach (see breach entry 1 sense 2b) in breached the castle wall

2 : break, violate breach an agreement

intransitive verb

: to leap out of water a whale breaching

Other Words from breach Synonyms & Antonyms Into the breech or the breach? More Example Sentences Learn More about breach

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Into the breech or the breach?

If you are about to provide some much-needed assistance in a situation do you get ready to step (or leap, or jump) into the breach or the breech? The former. The sense of breach this expression applies to is “a gap (as in a wall) made by battering.” Breech, on the other hand, refers most often to a part of a rifle (near the rear of the barrel), the buttocks, or short pants which cover the hips and thighs (this sense is always found used in the plural, breeches). You may, if you are in a state of undress, step into your breeches before you step into the breach, but you would never step into your breaches before stepping into the breech.

Examples of breach in a Sentence

Noun

This is clearly a breach of the treaty. Many people consider her decision to be a breach of trust . The judge ruled that the doctor's actions were in breach of her contractual duty.

Verb

He claims that the city breached an agreement by selling the property. Is he going to breach his contract? The army breached the castle wall.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The Trump administration has sought to heal the breach. — Jared Malsin And Courtney Mcbride, WSJ, "Pompeo Courts Arab Support Against Iran While Touting U.S.’s Mideast Role," 10 Jan. 2019 Facebook stock closed down 7 percent yesterday following the Times story and news that the company is being sued by the district attorney of Washington, D.C., over the Cambridge Analytica data privacy breach. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Recode Daily: Another damning Facebook data-privacy report — and a new lawsuit — sink the social network’s shares," 20 Dec. 2018 In addition to the severity of the danger, the breach is impressive for its logistical complexity, requiring top secret coordination between a Chinese military unit and factories were the chips could be installed. — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "Tiny Chinese Microchips Reportedly Found Hidden in Amazon, Apple Servers," 4 Oct. 2018 Police and airport security officials are trying to determine how the breach occurred. — Kelly Yamanouchi, ajc, "Fence jumpers highlight security vulnerability at Hartsfield-Jackson," 12 July 2018 Ticketmaster originally announced that the breach had affected only four of its websites from February to June 23, but the RiskIQ report listed as many as 17 different Ticketmaster websites over a greater period. — Jacob Taylor /, NBC News, "Ticketmaster data theft part of larger credit card scheme, security firm says," 10 July 2018 The breach included names, dates of birth, diagnoses and conditions. — Kelsey Ryan, kansascity, "Children’s Mercy faces class action lawsuit over data breach affecting thousands," 10 July 2018 In normal times, Congress would be expected to soberly absorb the conclusions and debate reforms needed to repair the breach in national political life. — Stephen Collinson, CNN, "Report on FBI brings the 2016 campaign roaring back," 15 June 2018 Richard Allan, a Facebook vice president, testified next to an empty seat for CEO Mark Zuckerberg at a British parliamentary committee hearing Tuesday on the spread of online disinformation and data breaches. — Daniel Michaels, WSJ, "Google and Facebook Face European Vexation," 27 Nov. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Photo: Bob Daugherty/Associated Press The Obama administration had concerns about the system in 2013 and publicly accused Moscow of breaching the accord the following year, to no avail. — Michael R. Gordon, WSJ, "As One Arms Treaty Falls Apart, Others Look Shakier," 7 Dec. 2018 The imams and mosques being targeted are suspected of breaching a rule that bans the foreign funding of Islamic communities. — Nadine Schmidt And Judith Vonberg, CNN, "Austria to close seven mosques, expel imams," 8 June 2018 That is just a fancy way of breaching copyright, the NSE argues. — The Economist, "Two Asian stock exchanges tussle over market data," 7 June 2018 Numerous celebrities and politicians have accused hackers of breaching their websites and accounts for years. — Louise Matsakis, WIRED, "A Short History of Blaming 'Hackers' For Pretty Much Everything," 27 Apr. 2018 The part that grabbed world headlines was a show-and-tell presentation of purportedly new nuclear arms capable of breaching US defenses. — Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, "For newly reelected Putin, it's all about making Russia great again," 19 Mar. 2018 Treaties, and the U.S. government’s history of unilaterally breaching them, have had a profound effect on Native people. — Ruth Hopkins, Teen Vogue, "Treaties Between the United States and Indigenous Nations, Explained," 24 Feb. 2018 Further Reading 50 million Facebook accounts breached by access-token-harvesting attack Another day, another privacy issue with Facebook. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "“We’re sorry,” Facebook says, again—new photo bug affects millions," 14 Dec. 2018 In the future, this research could help design more complex robots to breach into and out of the water. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Build Underwater Jumping Robot," 23 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'breach.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for breach

Noun

Middle English breche "act of breaking, opening in a wall, violation," probably in part continuing Old English brǣc "act of breaking" (derivative from base of brecan "to break"), in part borrowed from Anglo-French & continental Old French breche "break, gap," going back to Old Low Franconian *breka, derivative of *brekan "to break," going back to Germanic *brekan- — more at break entry 1

Verb

derivative of breach entry 1

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Learn More about breach

Dictionary Entries near breach

breach of confidentiality

breach of contract

Statistics for breach

Last Updated

16 Jan 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for breach

The first known use of breach was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for breach

breach

verb

English Language Learners Definition of breach

: to fail to do what is required by (something, such as a law or agreement) : to break or violate (something)

: to make a hole or opening in (something)

See the full definition for breach in the English Language Learners Dictionary

breach

noun

\ ˈbrēch

Kids Definition of breach

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a failure to act in a promised or required way a breach of contract

2 : an opening made by breaking a breach in the dam

breach

verb

breached; breaching

Kids Definition of breach (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : to fail to do as promised or required by breach an agreement

2 : to make a break in

breach

noun

\ ˈbrēch

Legal Definition of breach

1a : a violation in the performance of or a failure to perform an obligation created by a promise, duty, or law without excuse or justification

— breach of duty

: a breach of a duty especially by a fiduciary (as an agent or corporate officer) in carrying out the functions of his or her position

— breach of trust

: a breach by a trustee of the terms of a trust (as by stealing from or carelessly mishandling the funds)

— breach of warranty

: a breach by a seller of the terms of a warranty (as by the failure of the goods to conform to the seller's description or by a defect in title)

Note: A seller may be liable for a breach of warranty even without any negligence or misconduct.

b : failure without excuse or justification to fulfill one's obligations under a contract

— called also breach of contract

— compare repudiation

— anticipatory breach

: a breach of contract that occurs as a result of a party's anticipatory repudiation of the contract

— efficient breach

: breach of contract in economic theory in which it is more profitable for the breaching party to breach the contract and pay damages than to perform under the contract

— material breach

: a breach of contract that is so substantial that it defeats the purpose of the parties in making the contract and gives the nonbreaching party the right to cancel the contract and sue for damages — compare substantial performance at performance

Note: Whether a breach is material is a question of fact. Under the Restatement (Second) of Contracts, a material breach gives rise to the right to suspend performance but not to cancel the contract until there is a total breach.

— partial breach

: a breach of contract in which the breaching party's nonperformance is minor and gives rise to the right to sue for damages but not to suspend performance or cancel the contract — compare part performance at performance

— total breach

: a breach of contract under the Restatement (Second) of Contracts that is so substantial that it gives rise to the right to cancel the contract and sue for damages

2a : a violation or disturbance of something (as a law or condition) find both the State and the minor guilty of gross breaches of the rules of procedure — In re D.L.B., 429 N.E.2d 615 (1981) a breach of security especially : breach of the peace

b : an act of breaking out breach of prison

3 : the condition of having committed a breach of contract —used in the phrase in breach a terminating party who is not in breach is entitled to expenses — C&S/Sovran Corp. v. First Fed. Sav. Bank of Brunswick, 463 S.E.2d 892 (1995)