The noun break has 16 senses (first 6 from tagged texts)
1. (3) interruption, break -- (some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity; "the telephone is an annoying interruption"; "there was a break in the action when a player was hurt")
2. (2) break, good luck, happy chance -- (an unexpected piece of good luck; "he finally got his big break")
3. (1) fault, faulting, geological fault, shift, fracture, break -- ((geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault"; "he studied the faulting of the earth's crust")
4. (1) rupture, breach, break, severance, rift, falling out -- (a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations")
5. (1) respite, recess, break, time out -- (a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate")
6. (1) breakage, break, breaking -- (the act of breaking something; "the breakage was unavoidable")
7. pause, intermission, break, interruption, suspension -- (a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something)
8. fracture, break -- (breaking of hard tissue such as bone; "it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall")
9. break -- (the occurrence of breaking; "the break in the dam threatened the valley")
10. break -- (an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion); "then there was a break in her voice")
11. break -- (the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool)
12. break, break of serve -- ((tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving; "he was up two breaks in the second set")
13. break, interruption, disruption, gap -- (an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; "it was presented without commercial breaks"; "there was a gap in his account")
14. break -- (a sudden dash; "he made a break for the open door")
15. open frame, break -- (any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare; "the break in the eighth frame cost him the match")
16. break, breakout, jailbreak, gaolbreak, prisonbreak, prison-breaking -- (an escape from jail; "the breakout was carefully planned")
Overview of verb break
The verb break has 59 senses (first 22 from tagged texts)
1. (15) interrupt, break -- (terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty")
2. (13) break, separate, split up, fall apart, come apart -- (become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart")
3. (11) break -- (destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments; "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match")
4. (9) break -- (render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!")
6. (6) transgress, offend, infract, violate, go against, breach, break -- (act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises; "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law"; "break a promise")
7. (4) break, break out, break away -- (move away or escape suddenly; "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out--this prison is high security")
8. (4) break -- (scatter or part; "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour")
9. (4) break, burst, erupt -- (force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger")
10. (4) break, break off, discontinue, stop -- (prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the negotiations")
11. (3) break in, break -- (enter someone's property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act; "Someone broke in while I was on vacation"; "They broke into my car and stole my radio!")
12. (3) break in, break -- (make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern")
13. (2) violate, go against, break -- (fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax")
14. (2) better, break -- (surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break a record")
15. (2) unwrap, disclose, let on, bring out, reveal, discover, expose, divulge, impart, break, give away, let out -- (make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; "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")
16. (2) break -- (come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air")
17. (2) fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down -- (stop operating or functioning; "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")
18. (1) break, break away -- (interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns")
19. (1) break -- (make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke")
20. (1) break -- (curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The surf broke")
21. (1) dampen, damp, soften, weaken, break -- (lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall")
22. (1) break -- (be broken in; "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress")
23. break -- (come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday")
24. break -- (vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas")
25. break -- (cause to give up a habit; "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes")
26. break -- (give up; "break cigarette smoking")
27. break -- (come forth or begin from a state of latency; "The first winter storm broke over New York")
28. break -- (happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months")
29. break -- (cause the failure or ruin of; "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright")
30. break -- (invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken")
31. separate, part, split up, split, break, break up -- (discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up")
32. demote, bump, relegate, break, kick downstairs -- (assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sergeant")
33. bankrupt, ruin, break, smash -- (reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him")
34. break -- (change directions suddenly)
35. break -- (emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales broke")
36. collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, break, founder -- (break down, literally or metaphorically; "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")
37. break dance, break-dance, break -- (do a break dance; "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner")
38. break -- (exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy")
39. break, break up -- (destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set")
40. break -- (make the opening shot that scatters the balls)
41. break -- (separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers")
42. break, wear, wear out, bust, fall apart -- (go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely")
43. break, break off, snap off -- (break a piece from a whole; "break a branch from a tree")
44. break -- (become punctured or penetrated; "The skin broke")
45. break -- (pierce or penetrate; "The blade broke her skin")
46. break, get out, get around -- (be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning")
47. pause, intermit, break -- (cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch")
48. break -- (interrupt the flow of current in; "break a circuit")
49. break -- (undergo breaking; "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages")
50. break -- (find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof")
51. break -- (find the solution or key to; "break the code")
52. break -- (change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another; "Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children")
53. break, recrudesce, develop -- (happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time")
54. crack, check, break -- (become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated")
55. break -- (crack; of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir")
56. break -- (fall sharply; "stock prices broke")
57. fracture, break -- (fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey")
58. break -- (diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient's fever broke last night")
59. break -- (weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death")