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
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
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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Recent Examples of breaks
Verb
What breaks my heart is that Vermax’s cries sounded like a dog crying, a dog dying.—
Sean T. Collins,
Vulture,
22 June 2026 The Ocean's Eleven actor brought up his first encounter with Elliott while the cast was discussing who breaks character the most while filming Landman.—
Yamillah Hurtado,
PEOPLE,
21 June 2026 Or a body breaks the surface of a swimming pool?—
The Week Uk,
TheWeek,
20 June 2026 Under that scenario, if no candidate breaks 50% of the popular vote, the bottom finisher is eliminated, and voters’ second choices come into play.—ABC News,
19 June 2026 Inference breaks this structurally.—
Vasu Raj Jain,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026 Kate Ziegler breaks swimming’s oldest world record, shattering the 1,500-meter freestyle mark by 9 1/2 seconds at the TYR Meet of Champions Mission Viejo.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
17 June 2026 Zillow found the typical buyer now breaks even versus renting after about six years, down from more than eight in late 2023.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
17 June 2026 Who is responsible when a robot breaks something or injures someone?—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
13 June 2026
Noun
Since launching his menswear brand in 2015, the Mexican American designer casts the same key models repeatedly, such as Shaid Anaya, who takes breaks from his regular job as a construction workers to walk his shows.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
27 June 2026 When news breaks of an Ebola case almost anywhere in the world, the public reaction is remarkably predictable.—
Krutika Kuppalli,
STAT,
26 June 2026 The initial draft will be followed by a period of time, perhaps a few months, during which there will be some adjustments, primarily related to line or section breaks.—Literary Hub,
26 June 2026 Speed without structure breaks businesses.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2026 As the weather breaks, many of Michigan's state parks are opening for the summer camping season, and Amazon Prime Day is one of the best times to take inventory of your outdoor gear and make some upgrades — and even in the final stretch of the sale, there are still plenty of deals worth grabbing.—
Kasey Caminiti,
Freep.com,
26 June 2026 Mandatory three-minute breaks, introduced in the 22nd and 67th minutes of every match at the tournament, have drawn criticism from players, coaches and fans since the opening round of fixtures.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
25 June 2026 An X-ray taken after Tuesday’s game showed no fractures or breaks, and Kotsay said at the time the injury wouldn’t require stitches.—
Sean Campbell,
Sacbee.com,
25 June 2026 Believe it or not, some scientists say hydration breaks should be longer.—
Aj Willingham,
AJC.com,
20 June 2026
Burke won the Stanley Cup as Anaheim’s general manager in 2007, one of several front-office stops for him, along with time spent as the NHL’s director of hockey operations.
—
Stephen Whyno,
Chicago Tribune,
22 June 2026
The nose stops registering any single note and the room just smells busy.
—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
22 June 2026
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
These pauses in data center permitting and construction give communities time to consider how to define new laws and regulations about the facilities’ location, electricity use, water conservation and noise buffering.
—
Rachel Mural,
Fortune,
21 June 2026
Setting the factory ablaze and escaping, Naim pauses for a minute when the Ryan-like monster appears at a window, begging to be released and claiming to be the human-being.
Filing a false immigration claim violates anti-fraud statues, according to DHS General Counsel James Percival, and those who file them should be held accountable, according to a memo from Percival and reviewed by ABC News.
—
Luke Barr,
ABC News,
23 June 2026
In 2022, a federal judge ruled that the state law violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act.