breach

noun \ ˈbrēch \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

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

The information was then used for political purposes, but these types of breaches have been going on at Facebook for years, and Sandberg says the remedy is to create a system where everyone can safely share.

— Fox News, "Mary Jo Kopechne's cousin reacts to 'Chappaquiddick' film," 6 Apr. 2018
This breach represents the latest in a series of data incidents in recent weeks.

— abigail abrams, Time, "Data Breach at Sears and Delta May Have Hit 'Several Hundred Thousand' Customers," 6 Apr. 2018
Despite a drumbeat of data breaches in recent years, such as those at Facebook, Uber, and Equifax, the good news is that cybersecurity may be improving, at least in the United States.

— The Christian Science Monitor, "Cybersecurity may be beating cyber fear," 5 Apr. 2018
There was still one of the biggest data breaches in recent memory, compliments of UnderArmour.

— wired staff, WIRED, "Security News This Week: Julian Assange Has Lost His Internet Privileges," 31 Mar. 2018
The law also requires that patients be notified of data breaches within 72 hours of their discovery.

— casey ross, STAT, "The government wants to free your health data. Will that unleash innovation?," 29 Mar. 2018
This is the new, humdrum reality of information-security breaches.

— ian bogost, The Atlantic, "Atlanta's Boring Ransomware Attack," 28 Mar. 2018
When the news of Facebook’s breaches broke last week, the moderators again discussed restricting new members or moving to a different platform.

— penelope green, New York Times, "A Chat Room of Their Own," 28 Mar. 2018
One of the most catastrophic data breaches in the history of consumerism happened just last year at credit reporting giant Equifax, which exposed the personal information of 145 million Americans.

— nicole spector, NBC News, "Identity theft: The facts, the risks, and what consumers can do," 26 Mar. 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

See Words from the same year

breach Synonyms

breach

verb

Definition of breach

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

On Friday, loyalist troops had restarted their offensive on the enclave and were already reported to have breached its outer perimeter.

— nabih bulos, latimes.com, "Dozens killed in suspected chemical weapons attack on rebel-held city near Damascus, activists say," 8 Apr. 2018
The process was breached by individuals here at this agency.

— aaron blake, Washington Post, "Did Scott Pruitt falsely deny knowledge of his aides’ pay raises?," 6 Apr. 2018
Delta Air Lines said Wednesday that some of its customers' payment information may have been breached in a cyberattack last fall.

— NBC News, "Delta cyberattack may have exposed credit card details," 5 Apr. 2018
The precise mechanisms of how the DNC was breached remain somewhat murky.

— andrew prokop, Vox, "The hacked emails at the center of Mueller’s Russia investigation, explained," 2 Apr. 2018
Credit card data was not breached either, the company said, because payment information is collected and processed separately.

— maria clark, NOLA.com, "Walmart in early talks to buy Humana: report," 30 Mar. 2018
Former Federal Trade Commission officials say that Facebook Inc. appears to have breached a 2011 consent agreement to safeguard users’ personal information and may be facing hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.

— Fortune, "Facebook May Be Facing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in FTC Fines," 29 Mar. 2018
If Vote Leave is found to have breached the rules, that will support the notion that Leavers played fast and loose in 2016.

— The Economist, "Did Vote Leave cheat to win the Brexit referendum?," 27 Mar. 2018
Once the gas line was breached during the drill, the operator hopped off the excavator and ran upwind – as Carney pointed out, the only safe direction to go – to call 911.

— amy lavalley, Post-Tribune, "Gas line safety reminder digs in for spring projects," 23 Mar. 2018

Origin and Etymology of breach

derivative of ¹breach

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1547

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)

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)

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breach

verb

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breacher

noun

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breach

Definition of breach

Examples of breach in a Sentence

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Into the breech or the breach?

Origin and Etymology of breach

breach Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

breach

Definition of breach

Examples of breach in a Sentence

Recent Examples of breach from the Web

Origin and Etymology of breach

breach Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Near Antonyms

Related Words

Phrases Related to BREACH

Related Phrases

BREACH Defined for English Language Learners

breach

Definition of breach for English Language Learners

BREACH Defined for Kids

breach

Definition of breach for Students

breach

Definition of breach for Students

Law Dictionary

breach

legal Definition of breach

breach

breacher

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