break room

noun

variants or less commonly breakroom

ˈbrāk-ˌrüm 

-ˌru̇m

plural break rooms also breakrooms

: a room in a workplace where an employee can go for a short period of rest or refreshment

At lunchtime I ordered pizza for the staff and we all ate together, somewhat stiffly, in the break room.

—Heidi Julavits

Bumping into each other in the breakroom or chatting in the elevator sometimes leads to unexpected collaboration and creative solutions.

—Elizabeth Baskin

Examples of break room in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Across from the break room and common space on the dispatch floor is the Emergency Operations Center, a 52-seat room that will aid in coordinating during crisis responses. —Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2025

At Wawona Hotel, mold and mushrooms were discovered growing in the ice machine in the employee break room, forcing the facility to be closed from April 2024 through the end of the year. —Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 26 June 2025

The quickest way to sink your reputation is by sharing too much in the break room. —Colleen Batchelder, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025

By the afternoon, chips or candy from the break room call your name. —Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, The Conversation, 16 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for break room

• assume
• backroom
• ballroom
• barroom
• bathroom
• bedroom
• boardroom
• bridegroom
• classroom
• cloakroom
• consume
• costume