1
as in to disband
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 to stop
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 to divide
to set or force apart
he broke up the rocks in the old stone wall with a crowbar, sending them tumbling to the ground
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in to crack
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
5
as in to cease
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
police arrived at the scene and immediately broke up the fracas
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
6
as in to disrupt
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
break up the feta cheese and spread it over the salad
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
7
as in to laugh
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in split
the act or process of a whole separating into two or more parts or pieces
the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism pretty much signaled the end of the Cold War
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 break up
Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Use this guide to clean it in one day or to break up tasks throughout a longer time frame.
—Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 26 Sep. 2025
Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
While Google avoided breakup, losing $26 billion search deals could hurt predictability.
—Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break up
Verb
The only thing that could break up the fight?
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
Use this guide to clean it in one day or to break up tasks throughout a longer time frame.
—Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
Masses also has a team-high five pass breakups.
—Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
While Google avoided breakup, losing $26 billion search deals could hurt predictability.
—Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for break up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for break up
Verb
-
Trump has repeatedly threatened to disband the pact — agreed during his first term — if Canada and Mexico, the US’ two biggest trading partners, fail to heed his demands, such as halting fentanyl flows to the US and curbing Chinese investment.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
22 Sep. 2025
-
Adani Group has repeatedly denied the accusations first made by Hindenburg, which has since disbanded.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The traffic itself generally keeps moving rather than fully stopping.—
Eric D. Lawrence,
USA Today,
28 Sep. 2025
-
Fighting on the island had stopped, so the soldiers in the picture were not under fire, and the action of raising the flag (there is a movie of it) took all of a few seconds.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Carriage 3 was conceived and crafted in-house, cleverly using a sliding Victorian rail carriage door to divide the kitchen from the living and sleeping compartments, which are accessed via beautiful (and functional) fold-away steps.—
Chloe Frost-Smith,
Vogue,
24 Sep. 2025
-
Viewers can also expect health emergencies, explosive confrontations and the fallout from a public scandal that threatens to divide the family even further.—
Shelby Stewart,
Essence,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Fall is the perfect time to plant milkweed, Timm said, because the plants need to overwinter, allowing the cold to crack their seeds open.—
Caitlin Looby,
jsonline.com,
25 Sep. 2025
-
The vomit situation was cracking me up that that was on TV.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The university also asks the court to order online marketplaces, payment processors and other companies that do business with the defendants from disabling and ceasing to provide services.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
20 Sep. 2025
-
After about two more decades of ice retreat, two tributaries to the north and south of the Alsek Glacier ceased feeding ice to the glacier, NASA reported.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Saltwater seeps into gardens, storms batter homes, and flooding disrupts daily life.—
Feleti Penitala Teo,
Time,
22 Sep. 2025
-
The hurricane in August 2005 also seriously disrupted the production of oil and shut down refineries in the Gulf of America.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The suspect – identified by police as Robin Westman – was inside the store for 40 minutes, talking and laughing with other employees, as well as a customer, and testing out different firearms, the eerie footage shows.—
Taylor Galgano,
CNN Money,
22 Sep. 2025
-
Céline Pozzi, a manager at L’Immagine Ritrovata, laughed at my naïveté.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
On New Year's Eve in 1974, the former couple officially joined Fleetwood Mac, with their later split coinciding with the band's rise to fame amid the release of their album Rumours.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
23 Sep. 2025
-
Districts in property-poor areas that serve a high rate of students with unique needs receive a higher chunk of that split as compared to those that are property-rich.—
Krista Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Break up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/break%20up. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share