breaks 1 of 2

present tense third-person singular of break
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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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4
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 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 dies
to stop functioning after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day

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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 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
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2
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 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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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
And when the movie’s love interest Elizabeth, played by Mia Goth, goes so far as to find the creature attractive — jealousy is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2025 When a bona fide literary scandal breaks late on, Baum is certain that people will come to hear of it in a couple of days, via the newspapers and tabloids. Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025 One of the most popular is the Save the Cat method by Jessica Brody, which breaks your story into fifteen essential plot points that create a compelling narrative arc. Jennifer Sodini, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2025 Grab this deal before the connection breaks. PC Magazine, 15 Oct. 2025 This breaks the mirror symmetry, and the weak force is the only force to do it. Paul Sutter, Space.com, 14 Oct. 2025 That’s a figure that breaks the previous record for most units in a week by more than a half-million. Chris Willman, Variety, 13 Oct. 2025 When Ron takes a seat, the chair falls out from under him and breaks, leaving him dazed and sprawled on the floor. Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2025 Colonial seizure breaks the reciprocal relationship between people and the land, converting it to a relationship governed by extraction. JSTOR Daily, 11 Oct. 2025
Noun
The rest of the population should reduce long or intense activities, and take more breaks during outdoor activities, according to the agency. Joe Edwards, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025 Surf enthusiasts can ride one of Indonesia's most famous waves, Occy’s Left, or book surf excursions that take them to multiple breaks. Katie Lockhart, Travel + Leisure, 17 Oct. 2025 The early months of a season can be challenging for managers due to the seemingly endless international breaks, but the stop-start nature of the fixture list can have its advantages. Art De Roché, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025 Theoretically, that entitled him to extra time on tests and deadlines, as well as breaks throughout the school day. Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2025 Multiple water main breaks have caused issues for hundreds of residents after severe storms swept through the area this past weekend, and not long after, deadly flooding brought on a state of emergency declaration. Helen Rummel, AZCentral.com, 16 Oct. 2025 The shift in monetization also means that many creators have to break away from old strategies of posting longer videos that allow for more ad breaks to focus on shorter videos that hold users’ attention. Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2025 Reading poetry out loud also requires us to pause for punctuation or line breaks, increasing our parasympathetic tone and dampening our hyperactive sympathetic nervous system. K.j.s. “sunny” Anand, Time, 15 Oct. 2025 Many of us are guilty of overbooking our calendars and scrolling through our phones while taking breaks from work. Megan Sauer, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaks
Verb
  • My success — scholarships, businesses, properties — disrupts both narratives.
    Sofía Pereda, USA Today, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Pairing incompatible flavors disrupts the harmony of the charcuterie creation.
    Catharine Kaufman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • So grab a plate, settle in, and let these films take you back to the yard—where the music never stops, the bonds run deep, and every Homecoming feels like family coming home again.
    Okla Jones, Essence, 16 Oct. 2025
  • More than 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed, which stops them from reporting to work.
    Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Kombucha is a fermented tea that contains some sugar, but fermentation reduces how much your body actually absorbs.
    Sarah Garone, Health, 18 Oct. 2025
  • People who were gestating during the famine grew up to have smaller brains; their kidneys had fewer nephrons, which reduces the organs’ effectiveness.
    Clayton Dalton, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2025
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
  • My body no longer deciphers its signals correctly.
    Alaa Alqaisi August 13, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Several times a day, the incessant din of diesel engines pauses while the mats are delicately removed and placed in outsize tubs for washing.
    Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Lupe opens the car door and pauses.
    Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • At the same time, Skattebo, the battering ram personified, pushes and plows through defenders, injecting energy into the Giants and their fans.
    Charlotte Carroll, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Introduced as a stereotypical shrewish wife, Yeom plows past any pat characterizations with an energetic, passionate performance, one which requires a surprising degree of physicality.
    Joe Reid, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Their lawyers argue that the removal of the books violates federal and state free speech protections.
    Ann Schimke, Denver Post, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The program violates not only the First Amendment but also the Administrative Procedure Act, a federal law about how agencies are allowed to operate, the lawsuit argues.
    David Ingram, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Tune in for short episodes every Wednesday and Saturday as Grumpy answers reader questions, solves seasonal conundrums, and provides need-to-know advice for gardeners with his very Grumpy sense of humor.
    Steve Bender, Southern Living, 15 Oct. 2025
  • New metal alloy solves previous issues Metallic high-heat-resistant materials are essential for aircraft engines, gas turbines, and X-ray units.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 Oct. 2025

Cite this Entry

“Breaks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaks. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.

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