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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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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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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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
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Recent Examples of break
Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 22 Sep. 2025
The shaking broke some windows in Berkeley and rattled products off the shelves in some stores.
—Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 22 Sep. 2025
Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 27 Sep. 2025
After their summer break, William and Kate made a joint appearance at the Natural History Museum.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break
Verb
That implies that the original knot can be untied in just four steps, breaking the conjecture.
—Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 22 Sep. 2025
The shaking broke some windows in Berkeley and rattled products off the shelves in some stores.
—Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 22 Sep. 2025
Noun
This year, their record after the All-Star break hovered within the Top 10 in the Major Leagues, but their 41-57 hole to begin the year was too difficult to emerge from.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 27 Sep. 2025
After their summer break, William and Kate made a joint appearance at the Natural History Museum.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 27 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break
Recent Examples of Synonyms for break
Verb
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Saltwater seeps into gardens, storms batter homes, and flooding disrupts daily life.—
Feleti Penitala Teo,
Time,
22 Sep. 2025
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The hurricane in August 2005 also seriously disrupted the production of oil and shut down refineries in the Gulf of America.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The traffic itself generally keeps moving rather than fully stopping.—
Eric D. Lawrence,
USA Today,
28 Sep. 2025
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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
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The weapon can also fly more than 45 miles to strike mobile targets, reducing the amount of time that aircrews spend in harm’s way.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Sep. 2025
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Robert Shapiro, a professor of government and public affairs at Columbia University, questioned whether the removal of social media would meaningfully reduce the likelihood of political violence.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Its strong first-week performance suggests there is, in fact, an audience hoping to decipher the mind of Ye all of these years later.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
23 Sep. 2025
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Many of which have yet to be deciphered.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Ever the showman, Alvarez paused before reaching first base and motioned toward the Mets’ dugout.—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
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Chief Justice John Roberts has granted an administrative stay pausing the lower court’s order, but the full court is still weighing whether to grant a firmer stay.—
Jack Birle,
The Washington Examiner,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The two galaxies, named NGC 4532 and DDO 137, are in fact falling into the Virgo Cluster at 547 miles (880 kilometers) per second, and in doing so are plowing through a vast cloud of gas that surrounds the cluster.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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Its members need to plow more resources and in-kind technology contributions into Ukraine’s defense industry.—
ANDRIY ZAGORODNYUK,
Foreign Affairs,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Joe LaCava violated Rory’s airspace on the 18th green while taunting the same gallery that had teased his player, Patrick Cantlay, who had reportedly declined to wear a team hat to protest the lack of player compensation at such a big event.—
Ian O'Connor,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
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The dispute cuts to the heart of how far government officials can pressure media outlets without violating the First Amendment.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Who did it, how, and why, are the questions that both the protagonist and the readers try to solve simultaneously, normally without any expectations of realism.—
Anders de la Motte,
PEOPLE,
28 Sep. 2025
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This is an important first step to restoring trust for people in our democracy and its ability to solve our problems.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Break.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/break. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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