breaks up

present tense third-person singular of break up
1
as in disbands
to cease to exist or cause to cease to exist as a group or organization the band broke up when their arguments over money grew too stressful

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
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4
as in cracks
to yield to mental or emotional stress the sort of person who would be among the first to break up in a prisoner of war camp

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 up While Sam begins hallucinating people as puppets, Justin breaks up with him. Olivia Singh, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025 Belly, devastated by the betrayal, slaps Jeremiah and breaks up with him. Alexandra Hurtado, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025 Needless to say, Bobby breaks up with her later. Jake Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaks up
Verb
  • And once the dog is found, the Search Party network disbands.
    Mike Feibus, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
  • DiCaprio plays Bob, a revolutionary in hiding with his teen daughter (Chase Infiniti) after his activist group the French 75 disbands in chaos.
    Matt Donnelly, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The elevator stops at each floor and a new ghostly guest arrives offering some insight into Will’s plan.
    Amber McBride, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Some gardeners choose to pinch those old flowers away every day to enhance the look of their plants, while others decide to wait until the entire flower scape stops blooming to cut the scape stem down to the soil line.
    Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Food apartheid in Metcalfe Park Census data show how sharply the food access crisis divides Milwaukee.
    April Quevedo, jsonline.com, 7 Nov. 2025
  • What divides him from Burton is that Hopkins, by a miracle, summoned the clarity to renounce his own destruction.
    Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Tom almost completes his and then cracks it while putting it in the freezer.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Phillies avoid Shohei Ohtani, but Jhoan Duran cracks Jhoan Duran faced 81 batters after a summer trade brought him to the Phillies.
    Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • In a filing on Friday, the nearly-defunct federal body sought summary judgment in NPR’s lawsuit against the organization over its decision to appropriate funding for satellite distribution to a select group of NPR member stations before the CPB ceases operations.
    Max Tani, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2025
  • The motor disengages or ceases to function when the brakes are applied or the throttle is released.
    Natalie Davies, Freep.com, 20 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • As artificial intelligence disrupts software and traditional tech cycles, many VCs are being forced to rethink their investment theses.
    Nia Bowers, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
  • His ability to reset the line of scrimmage with power, find the football and then get hands on the ball carrier consistently disrupts opposing game plans.
    Dane Brugler, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Our group laughs at your group.
    Big Think, Big Think, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Affleck laughs and waits a beat.
    Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 5 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Neptune retrograde in Pisces, on the other hand, dissolves the fog of illusion, which also serves as an invitation to confront an emotional truth with clarity and compassion.
    Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
  • And power, in its purest sense, is awareness so total that conflict dissolves into clarity.
    Big Think, Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Breaks up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaks%20up. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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