Synonyms of break
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as in to disrupt 
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as in to stop
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as in to reduce
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as in to decipher
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as in to pause
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as in to plow
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as in to violate
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as in to solve
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as in to damage
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as in to die
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as in to retreat
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as in to wear
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as in to circulate
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as in to ruin
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as in to begin
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as in to veer
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as in to depress
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as in to exceed
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as in to surface
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as in pause
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as in vacation
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as in gap
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as in opportunity
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as in accident
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as in escape
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Example Sentences
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Phrases Containing
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Related Articles
1
as in to disrupt
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
hated telling her that I had broken her favorite glass vase
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2
as in to stop
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
the final vote broke the deadlock
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3
as in to reduce
to bring to a lower grade or rank
the captain was broken to lieutenant commander for disobeying a direct order from his group commander
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4
as in to decipher
to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language
Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park mathematicians broke the Enigma code being used by the Nazis
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5
as in to pause
to come to a temporary halt in one's activity
she broke from her ruminations to find that it was already dinnertime
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7
as in to violate
to fail to keep
had to confess that he had broken his promise not to share their conversation with anyone
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8
as in to solve
to find an answer for through reasoning
Professor Bates broke the problem when she realized that it was possible to synthesize the necessary compounds
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9
as in to damage
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
I broke a tooth on the hard candy
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10
as in to die
to stop functioning
after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day
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11
as in to retreat
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening
the herd of gazelles broke when they saw the lions racing toward them from the ridge above
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12
as in to wear
to use up all the physical energy of
the trek up the mountain just about broke me
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13
as in to circulate
to become known
as soon as the scandal broke, the CEO fled the country
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as in to begin
to come into existence
the crisis had passed, and a new day was breaking
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16
as in to veer
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course
the running back broke to his left before running out of bounds
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17
as in to depress
to diminish the price or value of
distressing economic news that will break many energy stocks
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18
as in to exceed
to go beyond the limit of
a menu with prices that is likely to break the budgets of all but the wealthiest of diners
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1
as in pause
a momentary halt in an activity
there was a brief break after the first movement as the doors to the concert hall were opened and the latecomers were allowed in
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2
as in vacation
a period during which the usual routine of school or work is suspended
most of the students at the boarding school are going home for Christmas break
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3
as in gap
an open space in a barrier (as a wall or hedge)
the rancher repaired the break in the fence where the horse had gotten through
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5
as in accident
an unexpected benefit or advantage resulting from the uncertain course of events
a guy who just seems to get all the breaks in life
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6
as in escape
the act or an instance of getting free from danger or confinement
a desperate break from that hellhole
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of break
Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
Well, when you’re done breaking your back shoveling, experts recommend snowball fights and sledding.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2026
Tim Reynolds, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 Feb. 2026
The soft, romantic look of a boho dress can bring a levity to an all black outfit which is a nice break from the sometime cumbersome stylings of wearing a single color head-to-toe.
—Shelby Comroe, InStyle, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for break
Verb
Pacquiao, 47, is 62-8-3 (39 KOs) and fought for a belt last July, losing by majority draw to then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in an attempt to break his own record for oldest welterweight champion.
—Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
Well, when you’re done breaking your back shoveling, experts recommend snowball fights and sledding.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2026
Noun
But there have been only four instances of the eventual NBA Finals winner not being among the league’s top-five teams record-wise at the All-Star break.
—Tim Reynolds, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 Feb. 2026
The soft, romantic look of a boho dress can bring a levity to an all black outfit which is a nice break from the sometime cumbersome stylings of wearing a single color head-to-toe.
—Shelby Comroe, InStyle, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for break
Recent Examples of Synonyms for break
Verb
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While fears over how artificial intelligence models from Anthropic and OpenAI could disrupt a myriad of industries — especially software firms — have churned markets in recent weeks, the broader S&P 500 isn’t far off from its all-time record level.—
Hugh Son,
CNBC,
24 Feb. 2026
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Authorities and witnesses reported burning vehicles, road blockades and attacks meant to disrupt security forces and restrict movement.—
Dante Motley,
Austin American Statesman,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Venezuela - once Cuba's top supplier - effectively stopped sending shipments in mid-December.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
18 Feb. 2026
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The government also stopped collecting and reporting crucial survey findings on transgender students — data that have shown higher rates of depression, drug use, bullying and other problems.—
Mike Stobbe,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But in the long run, that doesn’t do anything to dismantle networks of criminality or reduce the size of their operations.—
Angélica Durán-Martínez,
The Conversation,
24 Feb. 2026
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Others have sought to use cloud seeding to disperse fog at airports, tackle air pollution, reduce hail damage or even to manipulate the weather for major events, such as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.—
Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Pitch tipping — the art of deciphering what might be coming based on small tells a pitcher might have — is a legal and common practice.—
Evan Drellich,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2026
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How fans experience the game and how referees decipher controversial calls will only get better as visual AI advances.—
Jason Corso,
Fortune,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Alan Cumming briefly paused Sunday's BAFTA Film Awards on two separate occasions to address the expletives and racial slur that Tourette's syndrome advocate John Davidson yelled during the telecast, according to reports.—
Pamela Avila,
USA Today,
23 Feb. 2026
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Crews located five additional victims that evening, but worsening weather and avalanche conditions forced them to pause recovery operations.—
Nicole Buss,
Sacbee.com,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Crews have recently had to make repairs on major roads, including ones that see heavy traffic or that Louisville’s Snow Team frequently plowed.—
Caroline Neal,
Louisville Courier Journal,
12 Feb. 2026
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Severe weather conditions Many towns are plowing more to reserve the salt supply.—
Paul Burton,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Trump originally accused the bank of trade libel and violating state and federal unfair and deceptive trade practices.—
Ken Sweet,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Feb. 2026
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The repeal followed Congress’s zeroing out of penalties for violating Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.—
Julian Torres,
CNN Money,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Foster may have been a late addition to the roll-call of heroes who went on to deliver the first of three consecutive promotions under Hollywood ownership, having only come out of retirement in March 2023 to solve a goalkeeping crisis.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
20 Feb. 2026
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Genealogy investigations have had major success stories Successfully using the DNA of distant family members to profile and narrow down suspects had an extraordinarily high-profile debut in 2018, when it was used to solve the cold case of the Golden State Killer.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Break.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/break. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.
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