BREAKS Synonyms: 709 Similar and Opposite Words

breaks 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of break

as in disrupts

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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Relevance

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as in stops

to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end the final vote broke the deadlock

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as in reduces

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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as in deciphers

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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as in pauses

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 plows

to cut into and turn over the sod of (a piece of land) using a bladed implement farmers once broke fields with horse-drawn plows

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as in violates

to fail to keep had to confess that he had broken his promise not to share their conversation with anyone

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as in solves

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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as in damages

to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of I broke a tooth on the hard candy

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as in dies

to stop functioning after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day

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starts (up)

as in retreats

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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as in wears

to use up all the physical energy of the trek up the mountain just about broke me

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as in circulates

to become known as soon as the scandal broke, the CEO fled the country

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as in bankrupts

to cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts another bad investment could break him

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as in begins

to come into existence the crisis had passed, and a new day was breaking

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as in veers

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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straightens

as in lowers

to diminish the price or value of distressing economic news that will break many energy stocks

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as in exceeds

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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as in surfaces

to penetrate the surface (as of water) from below dolphins were breaking all around the boat

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breaks

2 of 2

noun

plural of break

as in lulls

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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as in vacations

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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as in gaps

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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as in opportunities

a favorable combination of circumstances, time, and place in classic fashion, her big break came when, as an understudy, she took over for an ailing star

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as in accidents

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 escapes

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 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 breaks

Verb

But about 1 in 20 patients progress to severe dengue, a life-threatening turn that tends to strike just as the fever breaks – often around days three to seven, when patients and their families may wrongly assume the worst is over. — Andrés Henao, CNN Money, 21 Sep. 2026 Dillane, superb in Harris Dickinson’s Urchin, has presence but is somewhat shortchanged by the script’s one-dimensional grasp of Willoughby, the dashing romantic hero revealed to be an opportunistic cad who breaks Marianne’s heart. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026 LLMs are great at finding blowups that exist—at searching the infinite landscape of fluid scenarios and plucking out the precise situation that breaks the equations. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2026 And the Epson WorkForce ES-590W breaks from the others by adding about 2 inches to both its height and depth. — David English, PC Magazine, 19 Sep. 2026 Now, this new work breaks that paradigm with a thin-film material that combines intense structural rigidity with unmatched thermal insulation. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026 Demand Clusters Change The Winner The study also breaks the questions into demand clusters—value, premium, luxury, cult, investment-grade, beginner, comparison—and the leaderboard reshuffles completely depending on which question gets asked. — Ronn Torossian, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2026 Allowing coaches to help sailors from outside the boat breaks a fundamental rule of sailing. — Andrew Rice, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026 Our full review breaks it down Looking for a pest control company? — Nick Perry, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2026

Noun

Autonomous trucks have the potential to roll for up to 20 hours a day, while a truck driver's hours are limited by federal laws that require drivers to take breaks. — Phil Lebeau,meghan Reeder, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2026 But baseball teams that outlast the competition over a full season are more impressive to me than those that catch enough breaks during the small sample size of October. — Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 21 Sep. 2026 These locations weren't chosen at random or to give the safety pilot toilet breaks. — New Atlas, 21 Sep. 2026 Unfortunately, before the morning breaks, both the Marshal and the outlaw lay dead in the woods. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026 Then come television timeouts, replay reviews, possession changes and breaks between quarters. — Taylor Eldridge, Kansas City Star, 20 Sep. 2026 Miami caught some breaks via Wake Forest penalties, including one in the end zone that caused the late safety. — Miami Herald, 19 Sep. 2026 The Pentagon’s policy breaks from that approach, requiring testosterone screening for all male personnel 30 and older and allowing younger members also to request screenings. — ABC News, 18 Sep. 2026 By the turn of the century, such devices were ubiquitous, joining airbags and antilock breaks as standard safety features. — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaks

Verb

According to the 2025 Global Sleep Survey by the medical device company, 39% of respondents said their partner disrupts their sleep at least once a week, and 36% pointed to a partner’s snoring or loud breathing.

— Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Yanbu, a major Red Sea oil export hub, has become particularly important as the war with Iran disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of disrupts

Verb

This merger leaves fewer studios competing for scripts and talent, gives one company greater power to dictate terms to distributors, and reduces streaming choices.

— Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026
The order also tells state natural resources agencies to fast-track permitting for work that reduces flood and landslide risk.

— Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of reduces

Verb

Qualcomm’s chip can run Linux, along with Arduino software, and can even do computer vision, which deciphers what a camera sees and translates it into software.

— Kif Leswing, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2025
With that base knowledge and his opponent’s game tape, Nolan analyzes wide receiver alignments and deciphers the offense's attack.

— Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 18 Sep. 2025

Definition of deciphers

Verb

Clutching an aerial hoop on a Johannesburg circus stage, a young performer pauses for a split second before launching into the air and gliding, drawing cheers from the crowd below.

— ABC News, ABC News, 18 Sep. 2026
One press on the stem plays/pauses media or answers/mutes a call.

— Eric Zeman, PC Magazine, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of pauses

Verb

Every year, our planet plows through this stream of cometary material, causing tiny fragments — many no larger than a grain of sand — to slam into Earth's atmosphere at around 133,000 mph (214,000 km/h).

— Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Meteor showers tend to put on dazzling celestial shows and happen at predictable times every year when the Earth plows through trails of debris left behind by comets and, sometimes, asteroids.

— Adithi Ramakrishnan, Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of plows

Verb

The numbers may be right while the decision violates a policy, bypasses a control or occurs at the wrong point in the process.

— Sunil Padiyar, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
The court did not decide whether allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports violates Title IX, instead ruling that California lacked clear notice that excluding transgender athletes was a condition of receiving federal education funding.

— Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of violates

Verb

For public transit commuters, an e-scooter solves the first-mile/last-mile challenge, bridging the gap between home, train stations, and office doors without relying on rideshare services or waiting for connecting buses.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 22 Sep. 2026
Our real goal, and the only thing that actually solves this, is getting people into long-term, stable housing.

— Brad Hamilton, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026