"break" meaning in English

See break in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /breɪk/ Audio: en-us-break.ogg [US] Forms: break [singular], breaks [plural]
enPR: /brāk/ Head templates: {{noun}} [POS TABLE]
  1. A break is a time when something stops before starting again.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-noun-YIJTOAV1
  2. A break (up) is an end of a relationship.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-noun-skeKqdD0
  3. A break is a space between something continuous.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-noun-9yh7iVXP
  4. A break is a situation in which things are not as difficult.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-noun-YDLs972t
  5. A break is a place where something is broken.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-noun-2k58FFeb

Verb

IPA: /breɪk/ Audio: en-us-break.ogg [US] Forms: break [canonical], breaks [third-person, singular], broke [past], broken [past, participle], breaking [present, participle]
enPR: /brāk/ Head templates: {{verb2|break|breaks|broke|broken|breaking}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If you break something, you make it come apart in a way that cannot easily be put back together, usually by force.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-VwdaNkX0
  2. If something such as a machine breaks, it stops working because something is wrong.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-yZSZxWAA
  3. If you break a law, rule, promise, etc. you do something that you should not do.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-yBstipk7
  4. If you break a surface, limit, record, etc., you go beyond it.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-g2aqkluS
  5. If you break free or out of something, you could not leave but now you leave.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-QFc0XWof Categories (other): Verbs
  6. If you break, you stop for a short time to rest.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-KkgH4XJV Categories (other): Verbs
  7. If day or morning breaks, it begins.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-WXKWETbc Categories (other): Verbs
  8. If you break something, you stop it suddenly.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-Lz6Y2WaN
  9. If news breaks, it becomes known.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-zRaUdCqf Categories (other): Verbs
  10. If your voice breaks, it changes because you are almost crying.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-FfE~7sNe Categories (other): Verbs
  11. If you break some money, you change a note into coins.
    Sense id: simple-break-en-verb-PH23s-5t
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "break",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaks",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broke",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broken",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaking",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "break",
        "2": "breaks",
        "3": "broke",
        "4": "broken",
        "5": "breaking"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb2"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He injured his leg and broke his arm during the crash."
        },
        {
          "text": "When my brother died, my family broke apart."
        },
        {
          "text": "The airplane broke apart in the sky over Hawai'i."
        },
        {
          "text": "When the ice broke underneath me, I said to myself, I'm in trouble."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break something, you make it come apart in a way that cannot easily be put back together, usually by force."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-VwdaNkX0",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "My car breaks down about once a week."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something such as a machine breaks, it stops working because something is wrong."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-yZSZxWAA",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The police can't do anything if no laws are broken."
        },
        {
          "text": "These are the rules. Don't break the rules and I won't send you home."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break a law, rule, promise, etc. you do something that you should not do."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-yBstipk7",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "In 1954 he set a new record of 3:59.4, breaking the old record by more than five minutes."
        },
        {
          "text": "Wilson broke barriers for women in journalism at a time when newsrooms were mostly male."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break a surface, limit, record, etc., you go beyond it."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-g2aqkluS",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Verbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The police are looking for some prisoners who broke out of the jail."
        },
        {
          "text": "One of the dogs broke loose and ran at her."
        },
        {
          "text": "When she closed the door, everyone broke into laughter."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break free or out of something, you could not leave but now you leave."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-QFc0XWof",
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Verbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We break for coffee at 10:00 every morning."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break, you stop for a short time to rest."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-KkgH4XJV",
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Verbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The day was breaking as they packed up the tent."
        },
        {
          "text": "Dawn was just breaking when Helga Schneider climbed out of bed."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If day or morning breaks, it begins."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-WXKWETbc",
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The sound of the door closing broke the silence."
        },
        {
          "text": "I didn't know my father, but with my son, I want to break that cycle of fathers leaving their sons."
        },
        {
          "text": "The show had been so magical that people didn't want to leave the theater, didn't want to break the spell."
        },
        {
          "text": "Smoking is such a hard habit to break."
        },
        {
          "text": "Mike had to leave to break up a fight between Ronni and Bridget."
        },
        {
          "text": "The rain finally broke on Monday evening."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break something, you stop it suddenly."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-Lz6Y2WaN",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Verbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If news breaks, it becomes known."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-zRaUdCqf",
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Verbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "\"I wanted to say goodbye before he died\", she said, her voice breaking."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If your voice breaks, it changes because you are almost crying."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-FfE~7sNe",
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I don't want to break a twenty just to buy matches."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break some money, you change a note into coins."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-verb-PH23s-5t",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "/brāk/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/breɪk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/breIk/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-break.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "brake"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "break"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "break",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We get a 15-minute break in the middle of the morning."
        },
        {
          "text": "I'll phone you during my lunch break."
        },
        {
          "text": "We're going to take a one-minute commercial break and we'll be right back."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break is a time when something stops before starting again."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-noun-YIJTOAV1",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We didn't see each other for years after the break up."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break (up) is an end of a relationship."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-noun-skeKqdD0",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The sun shone through a break in the clouds."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break is a space between something continuous."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-noun-9yh7iVXP",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "That job opening up just when she finished school was a lucky break for her."
        },
        {
          "text": "Give me a break."
        },
        {
          "text": "The new law would give middle-income families a $2,000 tax break."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break is a situation in which things are not as difficult."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-noun-YDLs972t",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The break in his leg could be seen clearly on the x-ray."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break is a place where something is broken."
      ],
      "id": "simple-break-en-noun-2k58FFeb",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "/brāk/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/breɪk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/breIk/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-break.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "brake"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "break"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "break",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaks",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broke",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "broken",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaking",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "break",
        "2": "breaks",
        "3": "broke",
        "4": "broken",
        "5": "breaking"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb2"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He injured his leg and broke his arm during the crash."
        },
        {
          "text": "When my brother died, my family broke apart."
        },
        {
          "text": "The airplane broke apart in the sky over Hawai'i."
        },
        {
          "text": "When the ice broke underneath me, I said to myself, I'm in trouble."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break something, you make it come apart in a way that cannot easily be put back together, usually by force."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "My car breaks down about once a week."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something such as a machine breaks, it stops working because something is wrong."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The police can't do anything if no laws are broken."
        },
        {
          "text": "These are the rules. Don't break the rules and I won't send you home."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break a law, rule, promise, etc. you do something that you should not do."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "In 1954 he set a new record of 3:59.4, breaking the old record by more than five minutes."
        },
        {
          "text": "Wilson broke barriers for women in journalism at a time when newsrooms were mostly male."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break a surface, limit, record, etc., you go beyond it."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The police are looking for some prisoners who broke out of the jail."
        },
        {
          "text": "One of the dogs broke loose and ran at her."
        },
        {
          "text": "When she closed the door, everyone broke into laughter."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break free or out of something, you could not leave but now you leave."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We break for coffee at 10:00 every morning."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break, you stop for a short time to rest."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The day was breaking as they packed up the tent."
        },
        {
          "text": "Dawn was just breaking when Helga Schneider climbed out of bed."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If day or morning breaks, it begins."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The sound of the door closing broke the silence."
        },
        {
          "text": "I didn't know my father, but with my son, I want to break that cycle of fathers leaving their sons."
        },
        {
          "text": "The show had been so magical that people didn't want to leave the theater, didn't want to break the spell."
        },
        {
          "text": "Smoking is such a hard habit to break."
        },
        {
          "text": "Mike had to leave to break up a fight between Ronni and Bridget."
        },
        {
          "text": "The rain finally broke on Monday evening."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break something, you stop it suddenly."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If news breaks, it becomes known."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "\"I wanted to say goodbye before he died\", she said, her voice breaking."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If your voice breaks, it changes because you are almost crying."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I don't want to break a twenty just to buy matches."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you break some money, you change a note into coins."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "/brāk/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/breɪk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/breIk/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-break.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "brake"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "break"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "break",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "breaks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We get a 15-minute break in the middle of the morning."
        },
        {
          "text": "I'll phone you during my lunch break."
        },
        {
          "text": "We're going to take a one-minute commercial break and we'll be right back."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break is a time when something stops before starting again."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We didn't see each other for years after the break up."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break (up) is an end of a relationship."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The sun shone through a break in the clouds."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break is a space between something continuous."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "That job opening up just when she finished school was a lucky break for her."
        },
        {
          "text": "Give me a break."
        },
        {
          "text": "The new law would give middle-income families a $2,000 tax break."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break is a situation in which things are not as difficult."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The break in his leg could be seen clearly on the x-ray."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A break is a place where something is broken."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "/brāk/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/breɪk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/breIk/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-break.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "brake"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "break"
}

Download raw JSONL data for break meaning in English (5.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-13 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (4ba5975 and 4ed51a5). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.