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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stops
to come to an end
the meeting broke up when all the business for the day had been completed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in divides
to set or force apart
he broke up the rocks in the old stone wall with a crowbar, sending them tumbling to the ground
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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5
as in ceases
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
police arrived at the scene and immediately broke up the fracas
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6
as in disrupts
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
break up the feta cheese and spread it over the salad
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7
as in laughs
to show mirth with an explosive vocal sound
if you break up during the skit, the audience will know that you're in on the joke
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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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
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
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And once the dog is found, the Search Party network disbands.—
Mike Feibus,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
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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
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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
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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
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However, such dormancy could be a life strategy too, keeping the bacterium stable with its DNA replicated (albeit with next to no chance of mutating or evolving) every time the host divides.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
16 Oct. 2025
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Though ideology divides, there are clear areas of unity upon which to build corporate culture including a unified desire for companies to invest in local communities and drive local economic development.—
Jason Del Rey,
Fortune,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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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
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Apple will be there waiting, sitting on a mountain of cash, ready to partner with (or outright acquire) whichever operation cracks the code.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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According to Havel, this usefulness is so successful, so total, that the story, the history, ceases to exist.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Oct. 2025
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If an airport ceases service for more than six hours, you may be reimbursed for non-refundable expenses like flights, hotels, prepaid tours, and change fees.—
AFAR Media,
AFAR Media,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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My success — scholarships, businesses, properties — disrupts both narratives.—
Sofía Pereda,
USA Today,
13 Oct. 2025
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Pairing incompatible flavors disrupts the harmony of the charcuterie creation.—
Catharine Kaufman,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Our lyrics are meant to be easy to remember and understand — without being totally dumb either, which, let’s face it, happens a lot in electronic music [laughs].—
Alma Rota,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
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In response, the Marvel star just laughs.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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As Venus harmonizes with Uranus and Pluto, the hold another once had on your heart dissolves.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
14 Oct. 2025
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Hydrometallurgy dissolves battery materials in strong acids, which requires large quantities of chemical reagents and produces liquid waste streams that must be treated.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Breaks up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaks%20up. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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