Thesaurus
break
verb
Synonyms and Antonyms of BREAK
1
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly <hated telling her that I had broken her favorite glass vase>
2
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end <the final vote broke the deadlock>
Synonyms break, break off, break up, can [slang], cease, cut off, cut out, desist (from), discontinue, drop, end, give over, halt, knock off, lay off, leave off, pack (up or in), quit, shut off
Related Words complete, conclude, finish; close (down); deactivate; block, blockade, dam, delay, detain, hinder, hold, hold back, impede, kibosh, obstruct, stem; call, suspend; arrest, brake, check, clamp down, rein (in), squash, squelch, stamp, stanch (or staunch), stunt, suppress, turn back; pause, stay, suspend; abolish, abort, annul, demolish, destroy, dissolve, kill, ruin, scuttle, snuff
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to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language <Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park mathematicians broke the Enigma code being used by the Nazis>
Related Words descramble, unscramble; render, translate; dope (out), figure out, puzzle (out), solve, unravel, unriddle, work, work out
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to fail to keep <had broken his promise not to share their conversation with anyone>
Related Words disobey, rebel; blow off, brush (off), disregard, flout, ignore, neglect, overlook, overpass, pass over, slight, tune out, wink (at); dismiss, pooh-pooh (also pooh), scorn, shrug off; defy, resist, withstand
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to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of <I broke a tooth on the hard candy>
Synonyms blemish, bloody, break, compromise, crab, cripple, cross (up), deface, disfigure, endamage, flaw, harm, hurt, impair, injure, mar, spoil, vitiate
Related Words deteriorate, enervate, enfeeble, undermine, weaken; erode, scour, wash out, wear (away); blight, tarnish; dent, ding, dint; botch, gum (up), queer; lacerate, wound; disable, hamstring, lame, maim, mangle, mutilate, torment, torture; annihilate, bang up, bash, batter, clobber, crush, dash, decimate, demolish, desolate, destroy, devastate, do in, pulverize, raze, ruin, scourge, shatter, smash, tear down, total, waste, wipe out, wreck
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to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening <the herd of gazelles broke when they saw the lions racing toward them from the ridge above>
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to become known <as soon as the scandal broke, the CEO fled the country>
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to come into existence <the crisis had passed, and a new day was breaking>
Synonyms actualize, appear, arise, break, commence, dawn, engender, form, materialize, originate, set in, spring, start
Related Words be, breathe, exist, live, subsist; arrive, come on, emerge; coalesce, cohere, shape (up); continue, endure, last, persist, survive
16
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course <the running back broke to his left before running out of bounds>
Related Words skew, slew (also slue); arc, arch, bend, bow, crook, curve, hook, round, sweep, wheel; about-face, pivot; circle, coil, curl, loop, spiral; turn, twist, wind; weave, zigzag; deviate, stray, wander, waver
Antonyms straighten
17
to diminish the price or value of <distressing economic news that will break many energy stocks>
Synonyms attenuate, break, cheapen, depress, devaluate, devalue, downgrade, lower, mark down, reduce, sink, write down, write off
Related Words debase, demonetize; underestimate, underprice, underrate, undervalue; abridge, compress, contract, de-escalate, deflate, downsize, dwindle, lessen, moderate, shrink
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