The Collaborative International Dictionary
Break \Break\ (br[=a]k), v. t. [imp. broke (br[=o]k), (Obs. Brake); p. p. Broken (br[=o]"k'n), (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["a]kka to crack, Dan. br[ae]kke to break, Goth. brikan to break, L. frangere. Cf. Bray to pound, Breach, Fragile.]
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.To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.
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To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
Katharine, break thy mind to me.
--Shak. -
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 -
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. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.
To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.
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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. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.
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To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
An old man, broken with the storms of state.
--Shak. -
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. 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.
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To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle. ``To break a colt.''
--Spenser.Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
--Shak. -
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. -
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.
To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's strength; to break down opposition.
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To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to break down a door or wall. To break in.
To force in; as, to break in a door.
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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.
To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig.
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To stop suddenly; to abandon. ``Break off thy sins by righteousness.'' --Dan. iv. 27. To break open, to open by breaking. ``Open the door, or I will break it open.'' --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.
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.
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To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony. To break up.
To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow ground). ``Break up this capon.''
--Shak. ``Break up your fallow ground.''
--Jer. iv. 3.-
To dissolve; to put an end to. ``Break up the court.'' --Shak. To break (one) all up, to unsettle or disconcert completely; to upset. [Colloq.] Note: With an immediate object: To break the back.
To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally.
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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 a code to discover a method to convert coded messages into the original understandable text. To break cover, to burst forth from a protecting concealment, as game when hunted. To break a deer or To break a 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.
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.
Fig.: To begin to execute any plan.
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(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. ``Patroclus . . . the livelong day breaks scurril jests.''
--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.
Usage examples of "all up".
Kim would take the kids to her rehearsals, and he would save his sister a trip to school by picking them all up and driving them home.