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

In April 2025, after a period of heavy rain, the roof on one of the aging buildings collapsed under the weight of a rooftop HVAC unit, caving in directly over the Lighthouse’s employee break room. — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Sep. 2026

Kosowski’s fingerprint was recovered in the office building’s break room, which is not usually accessible to the public, the affidavit alleges. — Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026

The two men who died were in or near control rooms located above the coke oven piping, and a break room was above it too. — Ricky Sayer, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026

No family should have to rely on asking the right question at the right moment or meeting the right mother in a break room. — Danielle Stephens, USA Today, 26 July 2026

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