"break a promise" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "breaks a promise",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaking a promise",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broke a promise",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broken a promise",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<,,broke,broken>"
      },
      "expansion": "break a promise (third-person singular simple present breaks a promise, present participle breaking a promise, simple past broke a promise, past participle broken a promise)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "idiomatic"
      },
      "expansion": "(idiomatic)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              129,
              144
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2023 June 14, “Network News: NR and SWR apologise as Ryde Pier reopening misses festival deadline”, in RAIL, number 985, page 11:",
          "text": "Ryde Pier will remain closed to trains until July 10, Network Rail and South Western Railway have admitted. This means they will break a promise to have the pier reopened and trains running in time for the Isle of Wight Festival from June 15-18, one of the largest events in the island's tourism calendar.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              318,
              336
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026 June 30, Nicholas Muhoro, “Tonda Dickerson’s $10 Million Waffle House Tip Became One of the Strangest Lottery Nightmares Ever”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2026:",
          "text": "Less than two weeks after the lottery draw, her four co-workers filed a lawsuit against Tonda, alleging an oral agreement to share any lottery winnings if one of them won. […] At some point, the group agreed that all major wins would be split equally among them. According to them, Tonda was part of the agreement and broke that promise.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fail to keep a promise."
      ],
      "id": "en-break_a_promise-en-verb-kWQWizy4",
      "links": [
        [
          "fail",
          "fail"
        ],
        [
          "keep",
          "keep"
        ],
        [
          "promise",
          "promise"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To fail to keep a promise."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "break a promise"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "breaks a promise",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaking a promise",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broke a promise",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broken a promise",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "<,,broke,broken>"
      },
      "expansion": "break a promise (third-person singular simple present breaks a promise, present participle breaking a promise, simple past broke a promise, past participle broken a promise)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "idiomatic"
      },
      "expansion": "(idiomatic)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              129,
              144
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2023 June 14, “Network News: NR and SWR apologise as Ryde Pier reopening misses festival deadline”, in RAIL, number 985, page 11:",
          "text": "Ryde Pier will remain closed to trains until July 10, Network Rail and South Western Railway have admitted. This means they will break a promise to have the pier reopened and trains running in time for the Isle of Wight Festival from June 15-18, one of the largest events in the island's tourism calendar.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              318,
              336
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2026 June 30, Nicholas Muhoro, “Tonda Dickerson’s $10 Million Waffle House Tip Became One of the Strangest Lottery Nightmares Ever”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2026:",
          "text": "Less than two weeks after the lottery draw, her four co-workers filed a lawsuit against Tonda, alleging an oral agreement to share any lottery winnings if one of them won. […] At some point, the group agreed that all major wins would be split equally among them. According to them, Tonda was part of the agreement and broke that promise.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fail to keep a promise."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fail",
          "fail"
        ],
        [
          "keep",
          "keep"
        ],
        [
          "promise",
          "promise"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To fail to keep a promise."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "break a promise"
}