1
as in to disband
to cease to exist or cause to cease to exist as a group or organization
the band broke up when their arguments over money grew too stressful
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2
as in to stop
to come to an end
the meeting broke up when all the business for the day had been completed
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3
as in to divide
to set or force apart
he broke up the rocks in the old stone wall with a crowbar, sending them tumbling to the ground
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4
as in to crack
to yield to mental or emotional stress
the sort of person who would be among the first to break up in a prisoner of war camp
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5
as in to cease
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
police arrived at the scene and immediately broke up the fracas
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6
as in to disrupt
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
break up the feta cheese and spread it over the salad
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7
as in to laugh
to show mirth with an explosive vocal sound
if you break up during the skit, the audience will know that you're in on the joke
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as in split
the act or process of a whole separating into two or more parts or pieces
the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism pretty much signaled the end of the Cold War
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of break up
Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Use this guide to clean it in one day or to break up tasks throughout a longer time frame.
—Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 26 Sep. 2025
Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
Last year, Gonzalez landed on All-Pro second team after recording two interceptions, 11 pass breakups and 59 tackles over 16 games.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break up
Verb
The only thing that could break up the fight?
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Use this guide to clean it in one day or to break up tasks throughout a longer time frame.
—Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
Follows Miguel, a landscape architect, who after a breakup in Belgium, begins to rebuild his life alongside Olga, a local volunteer.
—Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
Last year, Gonzalez landed on All-Pro second team after recording two interceptions, 11 pass breakups and 59 tackles over 16 games.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for break up
Verb
-
DiCaprio plays Bob, a revolutionary in hiding with his teen daughter (Chase Infiniti) after his activist group the French 75 disbands in chaos.—
Matt Donnelly,
Variety,
25 Sep. 2025
-
Utah, a former member, disbanded its beach volleyball program earlier this year.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The traffic itself generally keeps moving rather than fully stopping.—
Eric D. Lawrence,
USA Today,
28 Sep. 2025
-
Fighting on the island had stopped, so the soldiers in the picture were not under fire, and the action of raising the flag (there is a movie of it) took all of a few seconds.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
See how commonwealth compares to other states The classic Halloween symbol is also great at dividing the masses.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Taiwan’s tender architecture is divided into two parts for 2026 and 2027.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Fall is the perfect time to plant milkweed, Timm said, because the plants need to overwinter, allowing the cold to crack their seeds open.—
Caitlin Looby,
jsonline.com,
25 Sep. 2025
-
The vomit situation was cracking me up that that was on TV.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Trouble in Mind Records, the Chicago label that specialized in punk and garage-rock for more than a decade, has ceased operations.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
26 Sep. 2025
-
All her fraudulent welfare handouts ceased in January 2025.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Eastern members of the alliance, including Estonia, Poland, and Romania, recently reported incursions into their airspace, while drones that disrupted Danish airports are suspected of being linked to Russia.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Sensory deprivation training has become increasingly common over the past decade, particularly when Steph Curry popularized practicing with strobe goggles to disrupt his vision.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The audience laughed, then a few hours later, its minds and anxieties provoked, spilled out into the warm September air a little heavier for the wear.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Potter was able to laugh about it at a press conference on Friday, a pointless briefing given he was sacked the following morning.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The divorce filing comes a day after reports surfaced about their split.—
Lea Veloso,
StyleCaster,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Judge Subramanian was convinced by this argument and other factors in play following the surprise split verdict and did not allow Combs to be sent home on bail.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Break up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/break%20up. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
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