Verb
- 1. interrupt, break, end, terminate
- usage: terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty"
- 2. break, separate, split up, fall apart, come apart, change integrity
- usage: become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"
- 3. break, damage
- usage: render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!"
- 4. break, bust, destroy, ruin
- usage: ruin completely; "He busted my radio!"
- 5. break, separate, divide
- usage: destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments; "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match"
- 6. transgress, offend, infract, violate, go against, breach, break, disrespect
- usage: 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. break, break out, break away, escape, get away, break loose
- usage: 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. break, disperse, dissipate, scatter, spread out
- usage: scatter or part; "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"
- 9. break, burst, erupt, express emotion, express feelings
- usage: force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger"
- 10. break, break off, discontinue, stop, end, terminate
- usage: prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the negotiations"
- 11. break in, break, trespass, intrude
- usage: enter someone's (virtual or real) 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!"; "who broke into my account last night?"
- 12. break in, break, domesticate, domesticize, domesticise, reclaim, tame
- usage: make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"
- 13. violate, go against, break
- usage: fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax"
- 14. better, break, surpass, outstrip, outmatch, outgo, exceed, outdo, surmount, outperform
- usage: surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break a record"
- 15. unwrap, disclose, let on, bring out, reveal, discover, expose, divulge, break, give away, let out, tell
- usage: 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. break, become, go, get
- usage: come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"
- 17. fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down, change
- usage: 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. break, break away, separate, part, split up, split, break, break up
- usage: interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns"
- 19. break, flee, fly, take flight
- usage: make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke"
- 20. break, collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, break, founder
- usage: curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The surf broke"
- 21. dampen, damp, soften, weaken, break, deaden, blunt
- usage: lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall"
- 22. break, change
- usage: be broken in; "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"
- 23. break, end, stop, finish, terminate, cease
- usage: come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"
- 24. break, change, alter, vary
- usage: vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"
- 25. break
- usage: cause to give up a habit; "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"
- 26. break, discontinue, stop, cease, give up, quit, lay off
- usage: give up; "break cigarette smoking"
- 27. break, come forth, emerge
- usage: come forth or begin from a state of latency; "The first winter storm broke over New York"
- 28. break, happen, hap, go on, pass off, occur, pass, fall out, come about, take place
- usage: happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months"
- 29. break, ruin
- usage: cause the failure or ruin of; "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright"
- 30. break, invalidate, annul, quash, void, avoid, nullify
- usage: invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken"
- 31. separate, part, split up, split, break, break up
- usage: 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, delegate, designate, depute, assign
- usage: 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, impoverish
- usage: reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him"
- 34. break, switch, shift, change
- usage: change directions suddenly
- 35. break, appear
- usage: emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales broke"
- 36. collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, break, founder, change
- usage: 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, dance, trip the light fantastic, trip the light fantastic toe
- usage: do a break dance; "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner"
- 38. break, change, exchange, commute, convert
- usage: exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"
- 39. break, break up, change, alter, modify
- usage: destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set"
- 40. break, shoot
- usage: make the opening shot that scatters the balls
- 41. break, separate, disunite, divide, part
- usage: separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers"
- 42. break, wear, wear out, bust, fall apart, decay, crumble, dilapidate
- usage: 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, detach
- usage: break a piece from a whole; "break a branch from a tree"
- 44. break
- usage: become punctured or penetrated; "The skin broke"
- 45. break, penetrate, perforate
- usage: pierce or penetrate; "The blade broke her skin"
- 46. break, get out, get around
- usage: be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning"
- 47. pause, intermit, break, interrupt, disrupt, break up, cut off
- usage: cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch"
- 48. break, interrupt, disrupt, break up, cut off
- usage: interrupt the flow of current in; "break a circuit"
- 49. break, diphthongize, diphthongise
- usage: undergo breaking; "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"
- 50. break, destroy, ruin
- usage: find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof"
- 51. break, solve, work out, figure out, puzzle out, lick, work
- usage: find the solution or key to; "break the code"
- 52. break, switch, shift, change
- usage: 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, hap, go on, pass off, occur, pass, fall out, come about, take place
- usage: happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time"
- 54. crack, check, break, change
- usage: become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated"
- 55. break, change state, turn
- usage: crack; of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir"
- 56. break, decrease, diminish, lessen, fall
- usage: fall sharply; "stock prices broke"
- 57. fracture, break, injure, wound
- usage: fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey"
- 58. break, decrease, diminish, lessen, fall
- usage: diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient's fever broke last night"
- 59. break, weaken
- usage: weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"
Adjective
- 1. broken (vs. unbroken), damaged, imperfect, injured, unsound
- usage: physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split; "a broken mirror"; "a broken tooth"; "a broken leg"; "his neck is broken"
- 2. broken (vs. unbroken), broken-field, dashed, dotted, fitful, interrupted, off-and-on(prenominal), halting, discontinuous#2, noncontinuous
- usage: not continuous in space, time, or sequence or varying abruptly; "broken lines of defense"; "a broken cable transmission"; "broken sleep"; "tear off the stub above the broken line"; "a broken note"; "broken sobs"
- 3. broken, crushed, humbled, humiliated, low, humble (vs. proud)
- usage: subdued or brought low in condition or status; "brought low"; "a broken man"; "his broken spirit"
- 4. broken (vs. unbroken), unkept
- usage: (especially of promises or contracts) having been violated or disregarded; "broken (or unkept) promises"; "broken contracts"
- 5. broken, broken in, tame (vs. wild), tamed
- usage: tamed or trained to obey; "a horse broken to the saddle"; "this old nag is well broken in"
- 6. broken, rugged, rough (vs. smooth), unsmooth
- usage: topographically very uneven; "broken terrain"; "rugged ground"
- 7. broken, imperfect (vs. perfect)
- usage: imperfectly spoken or written; "broken English"
- 8. broken, confused, disordered, upset, disorganized (vs. organized), disorganised
- usage: thrown into a state of disarray or confusion; "troops fleeing in broken ranks"; "a confused mass of papers on the desk"; "the small disordered room"; "with everything so upset"
- 9. broken, impaired (vs. unimpaired)
- usage: weakened and infirm; "broken health resulting from alcoholism"
- 10. broken, wiped out(predicate), impoverished, destroyed (vs. preserved)
- usage: destroyed financially; "the broken fortunes of the family"
- 11. broken, busted, damaged (vs. undamaged)
- usage: out of working order (`busted' is an informal substitute for `broken'); "a broken washing machine"; "the coke machine is broken"; "the coke machine is busted"
- 12. broken, distributed (vs. concentrated)
- usage: discontinuous; "broken clouds"; "broken sunshine"
- 13. broken, incomplete (vs. complete), uncomplete
- usage: lacking a part or parts; "a broken set of encyclopedia"
WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University.
All rights reserved.Definition and meaning of broken (Dictionary)