- (v.t.) An interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc.
- (v.t.) To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.
- (v.i.) To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking.
- (v.t.) A projection or recess from the face of a building.
- (v.i.) To be crushed or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking.
- (v.t.) To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.
- (v.t.) To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge or communicate.
- (v.t.) A device for checking motion or for measuring friction. See Brake, n. 9 & 10.
- (v.t.) To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.
- (v.t.) The first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.
- (v.i.) To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn.
- (v.t.) To impart, as news or information; to broach; -- with to, and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as, to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose cautiously to a friend.
- (v.i.) To fall in business; to become bankrupt.
- (v.t.) To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
- (v.t.) A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.
- (v.t.) To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
- (v.i.) To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop.
- (v.t.) An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship.
- (n.) See Commutator.
- (v.t.) An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.
- (v.i.) To burst forth violently, as a storm.
- (v.t.) To destroy the strength, firmness or consistency of; as, to break flax.
- (v.i.) To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.
- (v.t.) To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.
- (v.i.) To open spontaneously or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.
- (v.i.) To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
- (v.t.) To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law or promise.
- (v.t.) To weaken or impair, as health, spirit or mind.
- (v.t.) To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle.
- (v.t.) To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
- (v.i.) To fall out; to terminate friendship.
- (v.t.) To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey.
- (v.t.) An opening made by fracture or disruption.
- (v.i.) To fail in musical quality; as, a singer's voice breaks when it is strained beyond its compass and a tone or note is not completed, but degenerates into an unmusical sound instead. Also, to change in tone, as a boy's voice at puberty.
- (v.t.) To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.
- (v.t.) To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.
- (v.t.) An opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current.
Break and Hack
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
noun
- Some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity.
- usage: "the telephone is an annoying interruption"; "there was a break in the action when a player was hurt"
- synonyms: interruption
- An unexpected piece of good luck.
- usage: "he finally got his big break"
- synonyms: good luck, happy chance
- Geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other. (
- usage: "they built it right over a geological fault"; "he studied the faulting of the earth's crust"
- synonyms: fault, faulting, geological fault, shift, fracture
- A personal or social separation (as between opposing factions. )
- usage: "they hoped to avoid a break in relations"
- synonyms: rupture, breach, severance, rift, falling out
- A pause from doing something (as work. )
- usage: "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate"
- The act of breaking something.
- usage: "the breakage was unavoidable"
- A time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something.
- synonyms: pause, intermission, interruption, suspension
- Breaking of hard tissue such as bone.
- usage: "it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall"
- synonyms: fracture
- The occurrence of breaking.
- usage: "the break in the dam threatened the valley"
- An abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion. )
- usage: "then there was a break in her voice"
- The opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool.
- Tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving. (
- usage: "he was up two breaks in the second set"
- synonyms: break of serve
- An act of delaying or interrupting the continuity.
- usage: "it was presented without commercial breaks"; "there was a gap in his account"
- synonyms: interruption, disruption, gap
- A sudden dash.
- usage: "he made a break for the open door"
- Any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare.
- usage: "the break in the eighth frame cost him the match"
- synonyms: open frame
- An escape from jail.
- usage: "the breakout was carefully planned"
- synonyms: breakout, jailbreak, gaolbreak, prisonbreak, prison-breaking
verb
- Terminate.
- usage: "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty"
- synonyms: interrupt
- Become separated into pieces or fragments.
- usage: "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"
- synonyms: separate, split up, fall apart, come apart
- Render inoperable or ineffective.
- usage: "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart"
- Ruin completely.
- usage: "He busted my radio"
- synonyms: bust
- Destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments.
- usage: "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match"
- Act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises.
- usage: "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law"; "break a promise"
- synonyms: transgress, offend, infract, violate, go against, breach
- Move away or escape suddenly.
- usage: "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out-this prison is high security"
- synonyms: break out, break away
- Scatter or part.
- usage: "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"
- Force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up.
- usage: "break into tears"; "erupt in anger"
- Prevent completion.
- usage: "stop the project"; "break off the negotiations"
- synonyms: break off, discontinue, stop
- Enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act.
- usage: "Someone broke in while I was on vacation"; "They broke into my car and stole my radio"; "who broke into my account last night"
- synonyms: break in
- Make submissive, obedient, or useful.
- usage: "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"
- synonyms: break in
- Fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns.
- usage: "This sentence violates the rules of syntax"
- synonyms: violate, go against
- Surpass in excellence.
- usage: "She bettered her own record"; "break a record"
- synonyms: better
- Make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret.
- usage: "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case"
- Come into being.
- usage: "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"
- Stop operating or functioning.
- usage: "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident"
- Interrupt a continued activity.
- usage: "She had broken with the traditional patterns"
- synonyms: break away
- Make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing.
- usage: "The ranks broke"
- Curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves.
- usage: "The surf broke"
- Lessen in force or effect.
- usage: "soften a shock"; "break a fall"
- Be broken in.
- usage: "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"
- Come to an end.
- usage: "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"
- Vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity.
- usage: "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"
- Cause to give up a habit.
- usage: "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"
- Give up.
- usage: "break cigarette smoking"
- Come forth or begin from a state of latency.
- usage: "The first winter storm broke over New York"
- Happen or take place.
- usage: "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months"
- Cause the failure or ruin of.
- usage: "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright"
- Invalidate by judicial action.
- usage: "The will was broken"
- Discontinue an association or relation; go different ways.
- usage: "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up"
- Assign to a lower position; reduce in rank.
- usage: "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sergeant"
- synonyms: demote, bump, relegate, kick downstairs
- Reduce to bankruptcy.
- usage: "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him"
- Change directions suddenly.
- Emerge from the surface of a body of water.
- usage: "The whales broke"
- Break down, literally or metaphorically.
- usage: "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"
- Do a break dance.
- usage: "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner"
- synonyms: break dance, break-dance
- Exchange for smaller units of money.
- usage: "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"
- Destroy the completeness of a set of related items.
- usage: "The book dealer would not break the set"
- synonyms: break up
- Make the opening shot that scatters the balls.
- Separate from a clinch, in boxing.
- usage: "The referee broke the boxers"
- Go to pieces.
- usage: "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely"
- synonyms: wear, wear out, bust, fall apart
- Break a piece from a whole.
- usage: "break a branch from a tree"
- Become punctured or penetrated.
- usage: "The skin broke"
- Pierce or penetrate.
- usage: "The blade broke her skin"
- Be released or become known; of news.
- usage: "News of her death broke in the morning"
- synonyms: get out, get around
- Cease an action temporarily.
- usage: "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch"
- Interrupt the flow of current in.
- usage: "break a circuit"
- Undergo breaking.
- usage: "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"
- Find a flaw in.
- usage: "break an alibi"; "break down a proof"
- Find the solution or key to.
- usage: "break the code"
- Change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another.
- usage: "Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children"
- Happen.
- usage: "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time"
- synonyms: recrudesce, develop
- Become fractured; break or crack on the surface only.
- usage: "The glass cracked when it was heated"
- Crack; of the male voice in puberty.
- usage: "his voice is breaking-he should no longer sing in the choir"
- Fall sharply.
- usage: "stock prices broke"
- Fracture a bone of.
- usage: "I broke my foot while playing hockey"
- synonyms: fracture
- Diminish or discontinue abruptly.
- usage: "The patient's fever broke last night"
- Weaken or destroy in spirit or body.
- usage: "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
Break is a rapid and sharp price decline. Related: Crash.
noun
- One who works hard at boring tasks.
- A politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a political party for private rather than public ends.
- synonyms: machine politician, ward-heeler, political hack
- A mediocre and disdained writer.
- synonyms: hack writer, literary hack
- A tool (as a hoe or pick or mattock) used for breaking up the surface of the soil.
- A car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money.
- An old or over-worked horse.
- A horse kept for hire.
- A saddle horse used for transportation rather than sport etc..
verb
- Cut with a hacking tool.
- synonyms: chop
- Be able to manage or manage successfully.
- usage: "I can't hack it anymore"; "she could not cut the long days in the office"
- synonyms: cut
- Cut away.
- usage: "he hacked his way through the forest"
- Kick on the arms.
- Kick on the shins.
- Fix a computer program piecemeal until it works.
- usage: "I'm not very good at hacking but I'll give it my best"
- synonyms: hack on
- Significantly cut up a manuscript.
- synonyms: cut up
- Cough spasmodically.
- usage: "The patient with emphysema is hacking all day"
- synonyms: whoop
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
- (n.) A kick on the shins.
- (v.i.) To cough faintly and frequently or in a short, broken manner; as, a hacking cough.
- (n.) A procuress.
- (v.t.) To use as a hack; to let out for hire.
- (n.) A notch; a cut.
- (n.) A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough.
- (v.t.) To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace.
- (n.) A coach or carriage let for hire; particularly, a a coach with two seats inside facing each other; a hackney coach.
- (v.i.) To live the life of a drudge or hack.
- (v.t.) Fig.: To mangle in speaking.
- (n.) Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying.
- (a.) Hackneyed; hired; mercenary.
- (n.) A bookmaker who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge.
- (n.) A horse, hackneyed or let out for common hire; also, a horse used in all kinds of work or a saddle horse, as distinguished from hunting and carriage horses.
- (n.) A frame or grating of various kinds; as, a frame for drying bricks, fish or cheese; a rack for feeding cattle; a grating in a mill race, etc.
- (v.i.) To be exposed or offered or to common use for hire; to turn prostitute.
- (n.) An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in breaking stone.
- (v.t.) To cut irregulary, without skill or definite purpose; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument; as, to hack a post.
- (n.) A kick on the shins or a cut from a kick.
- (v.i.) To ride or drive as one does with a hack horse; to ride at an ordinary pace or over the roads, as distinguished from riding across country or in military fashion.
- (v.t.) To kick the shins of (an opposing payer).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary