"break the fourth wall" meaning in English

See break the fourth wall in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-break the fourth wall.ogg Forms: breaks the fourth wall [present, singular, third-person], breaking the fourth wall [participle, present], broke the fourth wall [past], broken the fourth wall [participle, past]
Etymology: break + the + fourth wall Head templates: {{en-verb|break<,,broke,broken> the fourth wall}} break the fourth wall (third-person singular simple present breaks the fourth wall, present participle breaking the fourth wall, simple past broke the fourth wall, past participle broken the fourth wall)
  1. (idiomatic, fiction) To apparently communicate with reality directly, such as when characters of literature comment on the existence of a reader. Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): Fiction Translations (direct communication with the viewer or reader): rompi la kvaran muron (Esperanto), briser le quatrième mur (French), მეოთხე კედლის გარღვევა (meotxe ḳedlis garɣveva) (Georgian), მეოთხე კედლის გატეხვა (meotxe ḳedlis gaṭexva) (Georgian), rompere la quarta parete (Italian), derrubar a quarta parede (Portuguese), romper la cuarta pared (Spanish)

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "break + the + fourth wall",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "breaks the fourth wall",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaking the fourth wall",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broke the fourth wall",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broken the fourth wall",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "break<,,broke,broken> the fourth wall"
      },
      "expansion": "break the fourth wall (third-person singular simple present breaks the fourth wall, present participle breaking the fourth wall, simple past broke the fourth wall, past participle broken the fourth wall)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Esperanto translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Georgian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Fiction",
          "orig": "en:Fiction",
          "parents": [
            "Artistic works",
            "Art",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To apparently communicate with reality directly, such as when characters of literature comment on the existence of a reader."
      ],
      "id": "en-break_the_fourth_wall-en-verb-6SnWJUPP",
      "links": [
        [
          "fiction",
          "fiction"
        ],
        [
          "communicate",
          "communicate"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "literature",
          "literature"
        ],
        [
          "reader",
          "reader"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, fiction) To apparently communicate with reality directly, such as when characters of literature comment on the existence of a reader."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "fiction",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
          "word": "rompi la kvaran muron"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
          "word": "briser le quatrième mur"
        },
        {
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "roman": "meotxe ḳedlis garɣveva",
          "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
          "word": "მეოთხე კედლის გარღვევა"
        },
        {
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "roman": "meotxe ḳedlis gaṭexva",
          "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
          "word": "მეოთხე კედლის გატეხვა"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
          "word": "rompere la quarta parete"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
          "word": "derrubar a quarta parede"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
          "word": "romper la cuarta pared"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-break the fourth wall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/41/En-au-break_the_fourth_wall.ogg/En-au-break_the_fourth_wall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/En-au-break_the_fourth_wall.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "break the fourth wall"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "break + the + fourth wall",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "breaks the fourth wall",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaking the fourth wall",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broke the fourth wall",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broken the fourth wall",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "break<,,broke,broken> the fourth wall"
      },
      "expansion": "break the fourth wall (third-person singular simple present breaks the fourth wall, present participle breaking the fourth wall, simple past broke the fourth wall, past participle broken the fourth wall)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English predicates",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Esperanto translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with Georgian translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "en:Fiction"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To apparently communicate with reality directly, such as when characters of literature comment on the existence of a reader."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fiction",
          "fiction"
        ],
        [
          "communicate",
          "communicate"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "literature",
          "literature"
        ],
        [
          "reader",
          "reader"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, fiction) To apparently communicate with reality directly, such as when characters of literature comment on the existence of a reader."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "fiction",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-break the fourth wall.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/41/En-au-break_the_fourth_wall.ogg/En-au-break_the_fourth_wall.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/En-au-break_the_fourth_wall.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
      "word": "rompi la kvaran muron"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
      "word": "briser le quatrième mur"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "roman": "meotxe ḳedlis garɣveva",
      "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
      "word": "მეოთხე კედლის გარღვევა"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "roman": "meotxe ḳedlis gaṭexva",
      "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
      "word": "მეოთხე კედლის გატეხვა"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
      "word": "rompere la quarta parete"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
      "word": "derrubar a quarta parede"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "direct communication with the viewer or reader",
      "word": "romper la cuarta pared"
    }
  ],
  "word": "break the fourth wall"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (bb46d54 and 0c3c9f6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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