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Definitions

break

[breyk] / breɪk /










VERB
better a performance
Synonyms
Antonyms
STRONGEST
STRONG




Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

This marks a break from the past and a first for the West.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 2, 2026

A section of Sunset Boulevard remained closed Sunday because of last week’s destructive water main break.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 2, 2026

"It's all a bit unwritten because we've never had an AI agent break out of its sandbox and hack other people on the internet before," he said.

From Barron's Aug. 2, 2026

Yebra has spearheaded an innovative project, bringing together millennia-old knowledge in Australia's Indigenous communities with cutting-edge satellite imagery to help detect where fires are most likely to break out.

From BBC Aug. 1, 2026

I steer close to it, hoping for an opening, a clear lane in front of the tragedy for Midnight and me to break through.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

It added: "Businesses already receive significant tax breaks for hiring young people through the National Insurance exemption for under-21s, and our £2.5bn youth employment package will support almost one million young people into work."

From BBC Aug. 3, 2026

Using a sensitive genome-mapping method, the team created detailed maps showing where double-strand breaks occur.

From Science Daily Aug. 2, 2026

But neither Nanos nor Patel have announced further breaks in the case.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 2, 2026

Darina Justusova, 33, pregnant and on maternity leave, said the heat was making her "much more tired" and forcing her to "take more breaks" during the day.

From Barron's Jul. 31, 2026

Mrs. Bessermann breaks up the fuss between Janek and Dziusia.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

The aircraft hit the sand and rolled for about 100 feet before Mike made a hard turn, forcing the aircraft to brake and enabling the pair to emerge unscathed.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 28, 2026

In June, America’s top vehicle-safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, proposed eliminating the requirement that autonomous vehicles have manual brake pedals—a change seen as highly beneficial to Tesla’s plans.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 22, 2026

This process acted as a natural brake on warming for millions of years and helped move Earth toward its present cooler climate.

From Science Daily Jul. 16, 2026

Just a few days earlier, U.S. regulators proposed nixing rules requiring manual brake pedals in autonomous vehicles.

From MarketWatch Jul. 1, 2026

The car rolled forward of its own accord and I panicked, slamming my foot down on what I thought was the brake pedal.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

Porto Germeno and other villages were evacuated when the fire broke out on Friday but local authorities say scores of homes were damaged or destroyed.

From Barron's Aug. 2, 2026

Big names such as Kerr and Adam Ramsay-Peaty - with his emotional reaction to taking bronze in the pool - broke out of this Glaswegian bubble, but what else?

From BBC Aug. 2, 2026

Starting in April, AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic left their test-beds and broke into unsuspecting corporations in unprecedented cyberattacks.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 2, 2026

"Essentially, it almost broke the system," said study co-author Dr Frederik Ravn Klausen, from Cambridge's Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics.

From Science Daily Aug. 2, 2026

The fury of the ice river broke upon them with terrifying force.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

Crews from the Department of Los Angeles Water and Power responded to a broken pipe around 6 a.m. near the intersection of San Vicente Boulevard and Lindenhurst Avenue.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 2, 2026

Telomeres help keep chromosomes from deteriorating or being incorrectly identified by cells as broken pieces of DNA.

From Science Daily Aug. 2, 2026

The following chart shows how the financial sector, when compared with the performance of the S&P 500, has broken out of a 15-month downtrend line, to suggest a new trend of outperformance is starting.

From MarketWatch Aug. 2, 2026

Frick said he understands the reservations, because no company has “really broken out in the market to have a standout” EV outside of market leader Tesla.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 1, 2026

Three of the window lights were broken out.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Actor George Clooney and wife Amal were forced to evacuate their home in France due to the ongoing wildfires breaking out across Europe.

From MarketWatch Aug. 3, 2026

Kayley believes her daughter's fear of breaking the rules ended up making her ill.

From BBC Aug. 3, 2026

FARGO, N.D.—Oak Reile was delivering a pallet of washer fluid, cigarettes and candy to a local convenience store in 2020 when he slipped and fell, breaking two vertebrae and paralyzing him from the armpits down.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 2, 2026

However, repeated cycles of breaking and repair can introduce errors, allowing mutations to accumulate in these highly active regions.

From Science Daily Aug. 2, 2026

Without warning, we’re surrounded by the sound of breaking glass.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold




Vocabulary lists containing break


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