BREAKING OFF Synonyms: 106 Similar and Opposite Words

breaking off

verb

Definition of breaking off next

present participle of break off

as in ending

to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end the judge broke off court proceedings until after lunch

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in stopping

to come to an end talks between the two sides broke off when one began making unreasonable demands

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of breaking off Tonga provides an immediate upgrade there, and, at worst, should take some pressure off a secondary that too often had to play superhero on the back end to prevent opposing running backs from breaking off big gains. —

Jesse Newell, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026 Vrabel first held a press conference at a podium inside the Indiana Convention Center before breaking off into a less formal side session with local reporters later. —

Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 25 Feb. 2026 While that thankfully hasn't been the case this year, the county did have a hit-and-run involving a semi breaking off a snowplow mirror. —

Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 4 Feb. 2026 In that unlikely scenario, there would be a risk of debris breaking off the asteroid and hitting Earth. —

Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 28 Jan. 2026 Once enough cars have sped over these fissures, chunks begin breaking off to create those infamous potholes that pop tires and ruin shocks. —

Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 29 Oct. 2025 Weiss made a career for herself as an op-ed staff editor at The New York Times before breaking off from the mainstream publication in 2020 and launching the Free Press. —

Antonio Ferme, Variety, 14 Oct. 2025 Lopez and Affleck, one of the quintessential pop culture couples of the early 2000s, famously rekindled their romance in 2021 and wed the following year, two decades after breaking off their first engagement in late 2002. —

Jessica Wang, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Oct. 2025 After breaking off the engagement, Cochran said, Glison had moved to the apartment complex to get away from him. —

Samira Asma-Sadeque, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaking off

Verb

Early this week, Senate Republicans and the president appeared to be edging closer to a framework to ending the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which is now in its second month — but a breakthrough has remained out of reach.

— Arden Farhi, CBS News, 25 Mar. 2026
OpenAI is shutting down its Sora video generation app, incidentally ending a $1 billion deal with Disney in the process.

— Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 25 Mar. 2026