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English Dictionary: to break up by the DICT Development Group
2 results for to break up
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
   Break \Break\, v. t. [imp. {broke}, (Obs. {Brake}); p. p.
      {Broken}, (Obs. {Broke}); p. pr. & vb. n. {Breaking}.] [OE.
      breken, AS. brecan; akin to OS. brekan, D. breken, OHG.
      brehhan, G. brechen, Icel. braka to creak, Sw. braka,
      br[84]kka to crack, Dan. br[91]kke to break, Goth. brikan to
      break, L. frangere. Cf. {Bray} to pound, {Breach},
      {Fragile}.]
      1. 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.
            --Shak.
  
      2. To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a
            package of goods.
  
      3. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or
            communicate.
  
                     Katharine, break thy mind to me.         --Shak.
  
      4. To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
  
                     Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . . To
                     break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray. --Milton
  
      5. 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.
  
                     Go, release them, Ariel; My charms I'll break, their
                     senses I'll restore.                           --Shak.
  
      6. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as,
            to break a set.
  
      7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to
            pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British
            squares.
  
      8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
  
                     The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments
                     with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
                                                                              --Prescott.
  
      9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller
            denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
  
      10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as,
            to break flax.
  
      11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
  
                     An old man, broken with the storms of state.
                                                                              --Shak.
  
      12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a
            fall or blow.
  
                     I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
                                                                              --Dryden.
  
      13. 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.
  
      14. To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to
            discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or
            saddle. [bd]To break a colt.[b8] --Spenser.
  
                     Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
                                                                              --Shak.
  
      15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to
            ruin.
  
                     With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks,
                     Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
                                                                              --Dryden.
  
      16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to
            cashier; to dismiss.
  
                     I see a great officer broken.            --Swift.
  
      Note: With prepositions or adverbs:
  
      {To break down}.
            (a) To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's
                  strength; to break down opposition.
            (b) To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to
                  break down a door or wall.
  
      {To break in}.
            (a) To force in; as, to break in a door.
            (b) To train; to discipline; as, a horse well broken in.
                 
  
      {To break of}, to rid of; to cause to abandon; as, to break
            one of a habit.
  
      {To break off}.
            (a) To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig.
            (b) To stop suddenly; to abandon. [bd]Break off thy sins
                  by righteousness.[b8] --Dan. iv. 27.
  
      {To break open}, to open by breaking. [bd]Open the door, or I
            will break it open.[b8] --Shak.
  
      {To break out}, to take or force out by breaking; as, to
            break out a pane of glass.
  
      {To break out a cargo}, to unstow a cargo, so as to unload it
            easily.
  
      {To break through}.
            (a) To make an opening through, as, as by violence or the
                  force of gravity; to pass violently through; as, to
                  break through the enemy's lines; to break through the
                  ice.
            (b) To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony.
  
      {To break up}.
            (a) To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow
                  ground). [bd]Break up this capon.[b8] --Shak.
                  [bd]Break up your fallow ground.[b8] --Jer. iv. 3.
            (b) To dissolve; to put an end to. [bd]Break up the
                  court.[b8] --Shak.
  
      {To break} (one) {all up}, to unsettle or disconcert
            completely; to upset. [Colloq.]
  
      Note: With an immediate object:
  
      {To break the back}.
            (a) To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally.
            (b) To get through the worst part of; as, to break the
                  back of a difficult undertaking.
  
      {To break bulk}, to destroy the entirety of a load by
            removing a portion of it; to begin to unload; also, to
            transfer in detail, as from boats to cars.
  
      {To break cover}, to burst forth from a protecting
            concealment, as game when hunted.
  
      {To break a deer} [or] {stag}, to cut it up and apportion the
            parts among those entitled to a share.
  
      {To break fast}, to partake of food after abstinence. See
            {Breakfast}.
  
      {To break ground}.
            (a) To open the earth as for planting; to commence
                  excavation, as for building, siege operations, and
                  the like; as, to break ground for a foundation, a
                  canal, or a railroad.
            (b) Fig.: To begin to execute any plan.
            (c) (Naut.) To release the anchor from the bottom.
  
      {To break the heart}, to crush or overwhelm (one) with grief.
           
  
      {To break a house} (Law), to remove or set aside with
            violence and a felonious intent any part of a house or of
            the fastenings provided to secure it.
  
      {To break the ice}, to get through first difficulties; to
            overcome obstacles and make a beginning; to introduce a
            subject.
  
      {To break jail}, to escape from confinement in jail, usually
            by forcible means.
  
      {To break a jest}, to utter a jest. [bd]Patroclus . . . the
            livelong day breaks scurril jests.[b8] --Shak.
  
      {To break joints}, to lay or arrange bricks, shingles, etc.,
            so that the joints in one course shall not coincide with
            those in the preceding course.
  
      {To break a lance}, to engage in a tilt or contest.
  
      {To break the neck}, to dislocate the joints of the neck.
  
      {To break no squares}, to create no trouble. [Obs.]
  
      {To break a path}, {road}, etc., to open a way through
            obstacles by force or labor.
  
      {To break upon a wheel}, to execute or torture, as a criminal
            by stretching him upon a wheel, and breaking his limbs
            with an iron bar; -- a mode of punishment formerly
            employed in some countries.
  
      {To break wind}, to give vent to wind from the anus.
  
      Syn: To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate;
               infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
   Break \Break\, v. i.
      1. To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually
            with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.
  
      2. To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a
            bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.
  
                     Else the bottle break, and the wine runneth out.
                                                                              --Math. ix.
                                                                              17.
  
      3. To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to
            appear; to dawn.
  
                     The day begins to break, and night is fled. --Shak.
  
                     And from the turf a fountain broke, and gurgled at
                     our feet.                                          --Wordsworth.
  
      4. To burst forth violently, as a storm.
  
                     The clouds are still above; and, while I speak, A
                     second deluge o'er our head may break. --Dryden.
  
      5. To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the
            clouds are breaking.
  
                     At length the darkness begins to break. --Macaulay.
  
      6. To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose
            health or strength.
  
                     See how the dean begins to break; Poor gentleman! he
                     droops apace.                                    --Swift.
  
      7. To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my
            heart is breaking.
  
      8. To fall in business; to become bankrupt.
  
                     He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes
                     break, and come to poverty.               --Bacn.
  
      9. To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait;
            as, to break into a run or gallop.
  
      10. 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.
  
      11. To fall out; to terminate friendship.
  
                     To break upon the score of danger or expense is to
                     be mean and narrow-spirited.            --Collier.
  
      Note: With prepositions or adverbs:
  
      {To break away}, to disengage one's self abruptly; to come or
            go away against resistance.
  
                     Fear me not, man; I will not break away. --Shak.
  
      {To break down}.
            (a) To come down by breaking; as, the coach broke down.
            (b) To fail in any undertaking.
  
                           He had broken down almost at the outset.
                                                                              --Thackeray.
  
      {To break forth}, to issue; to come out suddenly, as sound,
            light, etc. [bd]Then shall thy light break forth as the
            morning.[b8] --Isa. lviii. 8;
  
      Note: often with into in expressing or giving vent to one's
               feelings. [bd]Break forth into singing, ye
               mountains.[b8] --Isa. xliv. 23.
  
      {To break from}, to go away from abruptly.
  
                     This radiant from the circling crowd he broke.
                                                                              --Dryden.
  
      {To break into}, to enter by breaking; as, to break into a
            house.
  
      {To break in upon}, to enter or approach violently or
            unexpectedly. [bd]This, this is he; softly awhile; let us
            not break in upon him.[b8] --Milton.
  
      {To break loose}.
            (a) To extricate one's self forcibly. [bd]Who would not,
                  finding way, break loose from hell?[b8] --Milton.
            (b) To cast off restraint, as of morals or propriety.
  
      {To break off}.
            (a) To become separated by rupture, or with suddenness
                  and violence.
            (b) To desist or cease suddenly. [bd]Nay, forward, old
                  man; do not break off so.[b8] --Shak.
  
      {To break off from}, to desist from; to abandon, as a habit.
           
  
      {To break out}.
            (a) To burst forth; to escape from restraint; to appear
                  suddenly, as a fire or an epidemic. [bd]For in the
                  wilderness shall waters break out, and stream in the
                  desert.[b8] --Isa. xxxv. 6
            (b) To show itself in cutaneous eruptions; -- said of a
                  disease.
            (c) To have a rash or eruption on the akin; -- said of a
                  patient.
  
      {To break over}, to overflow; to go beyond limits.
  
      {To break up}.
            (a) To become separated into parts or fragments; as, the
                  ice break up in the rivers; the wreck will break up
                  in the next storm.
            (b) To disperse. [bd]The company breaks up.[b8] --I.
                  Watts.
  
      {To break upon}, to discover itself suddenly to; to dawn
            upon.
  
      {To break with}.
            (a) To fall out; to sever one's relations with; to part
                  friendship. [bd]It can not be the Volsces dare break
                  with us.[b8] --Shak. [bd]If she did not intend to
                  marry Clive, she should have broken with him
                  altogether.[b8] --Thackeray.
            (b) To come to an explanation; to enter into conference;
                  to speak. [Obs.] [bd]I will break with her and with
                  her father.[b8] --Shak.
No guarantee of accuracy or completeness!
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