breach

noun \ ˈbrēch \

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Examples: breach in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Into the breech or the breach?

Definition of breach

1 : infraction or violation of a law, obligation, tie, or standard

a breach of trust

sued them for breach of contract

2 a : 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

3 a : 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

See breach defined for English-language learners

See breach defined for kids

Examples of breach in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of breach from the Web

How much more serious a breach could there have been?

— marcus hayes, Philly.com, "Phil Mickelson should be gone but officials turn a blind eye at the U.S. Open | Marcus Hayes," 16 June 2018
Some of them are practically empty now because of devastating hurricanes, drought, dam breaches or economic collapse.

— tulsi kamath, Houston Chronicle, "Creepy Texas ghost towns totally worth a road trip this summer," 15 June 2018
Each team has a drug officer, and there are six-figure penalties for confidentiality breaches.

— profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Julian Edelman couldn't be suspended for unrecognizable substance," 12 June 2018
But, as the royal family soon discovered, this protocol breach was about to be the least of their worries.

— kayla keegan, Good Housekeeping, "A Look Back at Princess Diana's First Trooping the Colour Parade," 9 June 2018
What’s unusual is that Trump bragged about the numbers before the data was released to the public — an unprecedented breach of protocol that poses some questions for the functioning of financial markets in the future.

— matthew yglesias, Vox, "Trump’s wildly inappropriate (and possibly corrupt) jobs report tweet, explained," 1 June 2018
At each step, his opponents have had to choose between giving him one more slice of salami and staging an irrevocable breach.

— jonathan chait, Daily Intelligencer, "President Trump Is Taking Control of the Mueller Probe in Slices," 29 May 2018
Officials revealed at a town hall meeting Monday night that the officer who fired at the vehicle had not activated his body-worn camera, another possible breach of policy.

— evan sernoffsky, San Francisco Chronicle, "San Francisco officer’s shots at moving vehicle rekindle tense debate," 22 May 2018
Now vying to join those ranks is a growing breach on the north lawn of the White House, CBS News and other sources reported Tuesday (May 22).

— greg larose, NOLA.com, "Sinkhole forms on White House lawn; snark ensues: report," 22 May 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.

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.

Origin and Etymology of breach

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 ¹break

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

breach Synonyms

breach

verb

Definition of breach

breached; breaching; breaches

transitive verb

1 : to make a gap in by battering : to make a breach (see ¹breach 2b) in

breached the castle wall

2 : break, violate

breach an agreement

intransitive verb

: to leap out of water

a whale breaching

See breach defined for English-language learners

Examples of breach in a Sentence

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 of breach from the Web

Scuffles broke out, with riot police firing tear gas to stop protesters from breaching police lines.

— elena becatoros, BostonGlobe.com, "Greek government survives no-confidence vote over Macedonia deal," 16 June 2018
Scuffles broke out, with riot police firing tear gas to stop protesters from breaching police lines.

— Washington Post, "Greek govt survives no-confidence vote over Macedonia deal," 16 June 2018
Police have now released about 1,000 calls to 911 connected with the shooting — along with witness statements, interviews with victims, traffic surveillance footage and body camera footage of police breaching the room where Paddock was ensconced.

— david montero, latimes.com, "Carnage, chaos and terror: Police videos of Las Vegas shooting reveal a war zone," 14 June 2018
Residents of a cluster of riverside apartments are suing Goodwin College, contending the college breached agreements to keep rents affordable after buying the complex from the local housing authority.

— jesse leavenworth, Courant Community, "East Hartford Residents Sue Goodwin College Over Alleged Breach In Affordable Rent Agreement," 13 June 2018
Shortly after breaching the windows, SWAT officers entered the apartment and found two children dead in one bedroom and two others dead in another.

— aamer madhani, USA TODAY, "Orlando man who killed four kids previously menaced girlfriend with knife, set home ablaze," 12 June 2018
Still, suicide and mental health are difficult topics for many people to breach, from either side of the conversation.

— erin allday, SFChronicle.com, "Experts: Suicides of Bourdain, Spade may be opportunity to reach out," 8 June 2018
This is a very common effect in photos of whales far off the California coastline, which often appear to be breaching within several feet of the shore.

— National Geographic, "Why This Huge Full Moon Seems to Be Falling From the Sky," 6 June 2018
Making matters worse, Block.one admitted over the weekend that an intruder had managed to breach its email support system, operated by cloud software provider Zendesk (zen, -0.45%).

— jen wieczner, Fortune, "Cryptocurrency Hackers Are Stealing from EOS's $4 Billion ICO Using This Sneaky Scam," 31 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of breach

derivative of ¹breach

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1547

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

breach Synonyms

Synonyms

break, contravene, fracture, infringe (on or upon), offend, traduce, transgress, violate;

Antonyms

comply (with), conform (to), follow, mind, obey, observe;

Near Antonyms

defer (to), serve, submit (to), surrender (to), yield (to);

attend, hear, heed, listen (to), mark, note, notice, regard, watch;

Related Words

disobey, rebel;

blow off, brush (off), disregard, flout, ignore, neglect, overlook, overpass, pass over, slight, tune out, wink (at);

dismiss, pooh-pooh (also pooh), scorn, shrug off;

defy, resist, withstand;

BREACH Defined for English Language Learners

breach

verb

Definition of breach for English Language Learners

: 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)

BREACH Defined for Kids

breach

noun \ ˈbrēch \

Definition of breach for Students

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

Definition of breach for Students

breached; breaching

1 : to fail to do as promised or required by

breach an agreement

2 : to make a break in

Law Dictionary

breach

noun \ ˈbrēch \

legal Definition of breach

1 a : 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

2 a : a violation or disturbance of something (as a law or condition)