Home Synonyms break

Synonyms of break in English:

break


See US English definition of break

See UK English definition of break

See Spanish definition of romper

verb

1‘the mirror fell to the floor, where it broke into pieces’

SYNONYMS
shatter, smash, smash to smithereens, crack, snap, fracture, fragment, splinter
disintegrate, fall to bits, fall to pieces
split, burst, blow out
tear, rend, sever, rupture, separate, divide
informal bust
rare shiver
ANTONYMS

repair, mend

2‘she had broken her leg in two places’

SYNONYMS
fracture, crack, smash

3‘the bite had barely broken the skin’

SYNONYMS
pierce, puncture, penetrate, perforate
cut, graze, make a flesh wound in

4‘the machine has broken and they can't fix it until next week’

SYNONYMS
stop working, cease to function, cease to work, break down, go wrong, give out, develop a fault, malfunction, be damaged, be unusable
crash
informal go kaput, be on the blink, go on the blink, die, give up the ghost, conk out, go phut, go haywire, have had it
British informal pack up

5‘the council will prosecute traders who break the law’

SYNONYMS
contravene, violate, fail to comply with, fail to observe, disobey, infringe, breach, commit a breach of, transgress against
defy, flout, fly in the face of, ignore, disregard
infract
ANTONYMS

keep, abide by

6‘his concentration was broken by a sound’

SYNONYMS
interrupt, disturb, interfere with

7‘at mid-morning they broke for coffee’

SYNONYMS
stop, pause, have a break, take a break, have a rest
recess, suspend proceedings
informal knock off, have a breather, take a breather, take five
ANTONYMS

resume

8‘he landed on a pile of carpets which broke his fall’

SYNONYMS
cushion, lessen the impact of, reduce the impact of, soften the impact of, take the edge off, diminish, moderate, mitigate

9‘the film broke box-office records’

SYNONYMS
exceed, surpass, beat, better, cap, top, trump, outdo, outstrip, go beyond, eclipse, put in the shade
informal leave standing

10‘deeply established habits are very difficult to break’

SYNONYMS
give up, relinquish, drop, get out of
informal kick, shake, pack in, quit

11‘the strategies used to break the union’

SYNONYMS
destroy, crush, smash, quash, defeat, vanquish, overcome, overpower, overwhelm, cripple, bring someone to their knees
weaken, enfeeble, sap, suppress, subdue, cow, dispirit, impair, undermine, demoralize, incapacitate, extinguish

12‘her self-control finally broke’

SYNONYMS
give way, collapse, crack, be overcome, give in, cave in, yield, crumple, go to pieces

13‘four thousand pounds wouldn't break him’

SYNONYMS
bankrupt, make bankrupt, ruin, reduce to penury, reduce to nothing, pauperize

14‘he tried to break the news gently’

SYNONYMS
reveal, disclose, divulge, let out
announce, tell, impart, make public, make known, release, proclaim

15‘Krycek managed to break the encryption code’

SYNONYMS
decipher, decode, decrypt, unravel, solve, work out
informal crack, figure out

16‘the day broke fair and cloudless’

SYNONYMS
dawn, begin, start, come into being, come forth, emerge, appear

17‘a political scandal broke in mid-1991’

SYNONYMS
erupt, burst out, break out

18‘overnight, the weather broke’

SYNONYMS
change, undergo a change, alter, shift, metamorphose

19‘waves broke against the rocks’

SYNONYMS
crash, dash, beat, pound, lash
batter

20‘her voice broke as she relived the experience’

SYNONYMS
falter, quaver, quiver, tremble, shake

noun

1‘the magazine has been published without a break since 1950’

SYNONYMS
interruption, interval, gap, hiatus, lapse of time, lacuna
discontinuation, discontinuance, discontinuity, suspension, disruption, cut-off
stop, stoppage, cessation
caesura
archaic surcease

2‘a break in the weather’

SYNONYMS
change, alteration, variation

3‘let's have a break and get something to eat’

SYNONYMS
rest, respite, interval, breathing space, lull, recess
stop, pause
tea break, coffee break
intermission, interlude, entr'acte
informal breather, let-up, time out, downtime
Australian, New Zealand informal smoko

4‘a weekend break’

SYNONYMS
time off, period of leave
British holiday, minibreak
North American vacation
informal staycation
British informal vac
North American informal vacay

5‘a break in diplomatic relations’

SYNONYMS
rift, gulf, chasm, division, difference, schism, disunion, estrangement, alienation
separation, split, break-up, parting, parting of the ways, severance, rupture
quarrel, falling-out
British informal bust-up
rare scission

6‘a break in the wall’

SYNONYMS
gap, opening, space, hole, breach, chink, crack, fissure, cleft, rift, chasm
tear, split, slit, rent, rupture

7‘she got her first break in 1951, with Broadway's ‘Gigi’’

SYNONYMS
opportunity, stroke of luck, chance, opening, foot in the door

Phrases

    break down

    1‘his van broke down’


    SYNONYMS
    stop working, cease to function, cease to work, go wrong, seize up, give out, develop a fault
    informal conk out, go kaput, go on the blink, die, give up the ghost, go phut, have had it
    British informal pack up

    2‘pay negotiations with management broke down’


    SYNONYMS
    fail, collapse, come to nothing, founder, fall through, come to grief, be unsuccessful, not succeed, disintegrate
    informal fizzle out

    3‘Vicky broke down, sobbing loudly’


    SYNONYMS
    burst into tears, dissolve into tears
    lose control, be overcome, collapse, go to pieces, come apart at the seams, crumble, disintegrate
    informal crack up, lose it, lose one's cool
    break up

    1‘after about an hour, the meeting broke up’


    SYNONYMS
    come to an end, end, finish, stop, terminate
    adjourn, recess

    2‘the crowd began to break up’


    SYNONYMS
    disperse, scatter, go in different directions, move in different directions, go separate ways, disband, separate, part company

    3‘Danny and I broke up last year’


    SYNONYMS
    split up, separate, part, stop living together, part company, reach a parting of the ways, become estranged
    divorce, get divorced, get a divorce
    British informal bust up

    4‘the whole cast broke up’


    SYNONYMS
    burst out laughing, start to laugh, roar with laughter, dissolve into laughter, shake with laughter, laugh uncontrollably, guffaw, be doubled up, split one's sides, hold one's sides
    informal be in stitches, crack up, crease up, be creased up, be rolling in the aisles
    British informal fall about, laugh like a drain
    break off

    ‘the fuselage had broken off just behind the pilot's seat’


    SYNONYMS
    snap off, come off, become detached, become separated, become severed
    break away

    1‘Anna attempted to break away, but he held her tight’


    SYNONYMS
    escape, get away, run away, make a break for it, make a run for it, run for it, make one's getaway, flee, make off
    break free, break loose, get out of someone's clutches
    informal cut and run, hook it
    British informal leg it

    2‘a group of intellectuals broke away from the Party to form the Democratic Alliance’


    SYNONYMS
    leave, secede from, break with, split with, split off from, separate from, separate oneself from, detach oneself from, part company with, disaffiliate from, defect from, desert
    form a splinter group
    break out

    1‘he broke out of jail’


    SYNONYMS
    escape from, make one's escape from, break loose from, burst out of, abscond from, flee from
    get free

    2‘fighting broke out between rival army units’


    SYNONYMS
    flare up, begin suddenly, start suddenly, erupt, burst out, blow up, set in
    break something down

    1‘they had to get the police to break the door down’


    SYNONYMS
    knock down, kick down, stave in, smash in, pull down, tear down, demolish, destroy
    informal bust

    2‘break big tasks down into smaller, more manageable parts’


    SYNONYMS
    divide, separate
    rare fractionate

    3‘graphs show how the information can be broken down’


    SYNONYMS
    analyse, categorize, classify, sort out, itemize, organize
    dissect
    examine, investigate
    rare anatomize
    break into

    1‘£1,500 was stolen when thieves broke into a house in Perth Street’


    SYNONYMS
    burgle, rob
    force one's way into, burst into

    2‘Phil broke into the discussion’


    SYNONYMS
    interrupt, butt into, cut in on, intervene in
    British put one's pennyworth in
    North American put one's two cents in

    3‘he broke into a song’


    SYNONYMS
    begin suddenly, burst into, launch into
    break in

    1‘thieves broke in and took her cheque book’


    SYNONYMS
    commit burglary, break and enter
    force one's way in, burst in
    British archaic crack a crib

    2‘‘I don't want to interfere, ’ Mrs Hendry broke in’


    SYNONYMS
    interrupt, butt in, chip in, cut in, interject, interpose, intervene, chime in
    interfere, put one's oar in, have one's say
    break someone in

    ‘there was no time to break in a new foreign minister’


    SYNONYMS
    train, prepare, prime, initiate, condition
    informal show someone the ropes
    break something up

    1‘police tried to break up a crowd of about 10,000 people’


    SYNONYMS
    disperse, scatter, disband, separate

    2‘I'm not going to let you break up my marriage’


    SYNONYMS
    put an end to, bring to an end, destroy, wreck, ruin
    break something off

    1‘I broke off a branch from one of the trees’


    SYNONYMS
    snap off, pull off, sever, detach, separate
    rare dissever

    2‘Britain threatened to break off diplomatic relations’


    SYNONYMS
    end, bring to an end, terminate, put an end to, call a halt to, stop, cease, finish, dissolve
    suspend, discontinue
    informal pull the plug on
    archaic sunder