What is "break"

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.]

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. ``To break a colt.''
    --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.

    1. To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's strength; to break down opposition.

    2. To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to break down a door or wall. To break in.

       1. To force in; as, to break in a door.

       2. 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.

          1. To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig.

          2. 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.

             1. 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.

             2. To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony. To break up.

                1. To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow ground). ``Break up this capon.''
                   --Shak. ``Break up your fallow ground.''
                   --Jer. iv. 3.

                2. 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.

                   1. To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally.

                   2. 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.

                      1. 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.

                      2. Fig.: To begin to execute any plan.

    3. (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.

Break \Break\ (br[=a]k), 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.

    1. To come down by breaking; as, the coach broke down.

    2. To fail in any undertaking; to halt before successful completion; as, the negotiations broke down due to irreconcilable demands.

    3. To cease functioning or to malfunction; as, the car broke down in the middle of the highway. He had broken down almost at the outset. --Thackeray. To break forth, to issue; to come out suddenly, as sound, light, etc. ``Then shall thy light break forth as the morning.'' --Isa. lviii. 8; Note: often with into in expressing or giving vent to one's feelings. ``Break forth into singing, ye mountains.'' --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. ``This, this is he; softly awhile; let us not break in upon him.'' --Milton. To break loose.

       1. To extricate one's self forcibly. ``Who would not, finding way, break loose from hell?''
          --Milton.

       2. To cast off restraint, as of morals or propriety. To break off.

          1. To become separated by rupture, or with suddenness and violence.

          2. To desist or cease suddenly. ``Nay, forward, old man; do not break off so.'' --Shak. To break off from, to desist from; to abandon, as a habit. To break out.

             1. To burst forth; to escape from restraint; to appear suddenly, as a fire or an epidemic. ``For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and stream in the desert.''
                --Isa. xxxv. 6

             2. To show itself in cutaneous eruptions; -- said of a disease.

       3. 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.

          1. To become separated into parts or fragments; as, the ice break up in the rivers; the wreck will break up in the next storm.

          2. To disperse. ``The company breaks up.'' --I. Watts. To break upon, to discover itself suddenly to; to dawn upon. To break with.

             1. To fall out; to sever one's relations with; to part friendship. ``It can not be the Volsces dare break with us.''
                --Shak. ``If she did not intend to marry Clive, she should have broken with him altogether.''
                --Thackeray.

             2. To come to an explanation; to enter into conference; to speak. [Obs.] ``I will break with her and with her father.''
                --Shak.

Break \Break\ (br[=a]k), n. [See Break, v. t., and cf. Brake (the instrument), Breach, Brack a crack.]

1. An opening made by fracture or disruption.

2. An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship. Specifically:

   1. (Arch.) A projection or recess from the face of a building.

   2. (Elec.) An opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current.

3. An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.

4. An interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc.

   All modern trash is Set forth with numerous breaks and dashes.
   --Swift.

5. The first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.

6. A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.

7. A device for checking motion, or for measuring friction. See Brake, n. 9 & 10.

8. (Teleg.) See Commutator.

c.1300, "act of breaking," from break (v.). Sense of "short interval between spells of work" (originally between lessons at school) is from 1861. Meaning "stroke of luck" is attested by 1911, probably an image from billiards (where the break that starts the game is attested from 1865). Meaning "stroke of mercy" is from 1914. Musical sense, "improvised passage, solo" is attested from 1920s in jazz.

Old English brecan "to break, shatter, burst; injure, violate, destroy, curtail; break into, rush into; burst forth, spring out; subdue, tame" (class IV strong verb; past tense bræc, past participle brocen), from Proto-Germanic *brekan (cognates: Old Frisian breka, Dutch breken, Old High German brehhan, German brechen, Gothic brikan), from PIE root *bhreg- "to break" (see fraction). Most modern senses were in Old English. In reference to the heart from early 13c. Meaning "to disclose" is from early 13c.\n

\nBreak bread "share food" (with) is from late 14c. Break the ice is c.1600, in reference to the "coldness" of encounters of strangers. Break wind first attested 1550s. To break (something) out (1890s) probably is an image from dock work, of freeing cargo before unloading it. Ironic theatrical good luck formula break a leg has parallels in German Hals- und Beinbruch "break your neck and leg," and Italian in bocca al lupo. Evidence of a highly superstitious craft (see Macbeth).

n. 1 An instance of breaking something into two pieces. 2 A physical space that open up in something or between two things. 3 (context music English) A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue. 4 A rest or pause, usually from work; a breaktime. 5 A temporary split (with a romantic partner). 6 An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game. vb. 1 (context transitive intransitive English) To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly. 2 # (context transitive intransitive English) To crack or fracture (bone) under a physical strain. 3 (context transitive US English) To divide (something, often money) into smaller units. 4 (context transitive English) To cause (a person) to lose his or her spirit or will; to crush the spirits of; to ruin (a person) emotionally. 5 (context intransitive English) To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief. 6 (context transitive English) To cause (a person or animal) to lose its will. 7 (context transitive English) To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate. 8 (context transitive English) To ruin financially. 9 (context transitive English) To violate, to not adhere to. 10 (context intransitive of a fever English) To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, temperaturewise. 11 (context transitive gaming slang English) To design or use a powerful (yet legal) strategy that unbalances the game in a player's favor. 12 (context transitive intransitive English) To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether. 13 # (context specifically in programming English) To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression. 14 (context transitive English) To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar. 15 # (context specifically English) To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible. 16 # (context specifically English) To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination(,) or the like. 17 (context intransitive of a wave of water English) To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water. Image:A storm at Pors-Loubous.jpg 18 (context intransitive of a storm or spell of weather English) To end. 19 (context intransitive English) To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view. 20 (context intransitive English) To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily. 21 (context transitive English) To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object not hit something else beneath. 22 (context transitive ergative English) To disclose or make known an item of news, etc. 23 (context intransitive of morning English) To arrive. 24 (context intransitive of a sound English) To become audible suddenly. 25 (context transitive English) To change a steady state abruptly. 26 (context copulative informal English) To suddenly become. 27 (context intransitive English) Of a voice, to alter in type: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack. 28 (context transitive English) To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (a record), setting a new record. 29 (context sports and games English): 30 # (context transitive tennis English) To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver.

1. v. terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty" [syn: interrupt]

2. become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart" [syn: separate, split up, fall apart, come apart]

3. destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments; "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match"

4. render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!"

5. ruin completely; "He busted my radio!" [syn: bust] [ant: repair]

6. act in disregard of laws and rules; "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law" [syn: transgress, offend, infract, violate, go against, breach]

7. move away or escape suddenly; "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out--this prison is high security" [syn: break out, break away]

8. scatter or part; "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"

9. force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger" [syn: burst, erupt]

10. prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the negociations" [syn: break off, discontinue, stop]

11. enter someone's 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!" [syn: break in]

12. make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern" [syn: break in]

13. fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax" [syn: violate, go against] [ant: conform to]

14. surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break a record" [syn: better]

15. 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" [syn: disclose, let on, bring out, reveal, discover, expose, divulge, impart, give away, let out]

16. come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"

17. 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" [syn: fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break down]

18. interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns" [syn: break away]

19. make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke"

20. curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The surf broke"

21. lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall" [syn: dampen, damp, soften, weaken]

22. be broken in; "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"

23. come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"

24. vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"

25. cause to give up a habit; "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"

26. give up; "break cigarette smoking"

27. come forth or begin from a state of latency; "The first winter storm broke over New York"

28. happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months"

29. cause the failure or ruin of; "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright" [ant: make]

30. invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken"

31. 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" [syn: separate, part, split up, split, break up]

32. assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sargeant" [syn: demote, bump, relegate, kick downstairs] [ant: promote]

33. reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him" [syn: bankrupt, ruin, smash]

34. change directions suddenly

35. emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales broke"

36. 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" [syn: collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, founder]

37. do a break dance; "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner" [syn: break dance, break-dance]

38. exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"

39. destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set" [syn: break up]

40. make the opening shot that scatters the balls

41. separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers"

42. go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely" [syn: wear, wear out, bust, fall apart]

43. break a piece from a whole; "break a branch from a tree" [syn: break off, snap off]

44. become punctured or penetrated; "The skin broke"

45. pierce or penetrate; "The blade broke her skin"

46. be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning" [syn: get out, get around]

47. cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch" [syn: pause, intermit]

48. interrupt the flow of current in; "break a circuit"

49. undergo breaking; "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"

50. find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof"

51. find the solution or key to; "break the code"

52. 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. happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time" [syn: recrudesce, develop]

54. become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated" [syn: crack, check]

55. of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir"

56. fall sharply; "stock prices broke"

57. fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey" [syn: fracture]

58. diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient's fever broke last night"

59. weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"

60. [also: broken, broke]

1. n. some abrupt occurrence that interrupts; "the telephone is an annoying interruption"; "there was a break in the action when a player was hurt" [syn: interruption]

2. an unexpected piece of good luck; "he finally got his big break" [syn: good luck, happy chance]

3. (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault" [syn: fault, geological fault, shift, fracture]

4. a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations" [syn: rupture, breach, severance, rift, falling out]

5. a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate" [syn: respite, recess, time out]

6. the act of breaking something; "the breakage was unavoidable" [syn: breakage, breaking]

7. a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something [syn: pause, intermission, interruption, suspension]

8. breaking of hard tissue such as bone; "it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall" [syn: fracture]

9. the occurrence of breaking; "the break in the dam threatened the valley"

10. the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool

11. (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving; "he was up two breaks in the second set" [syn: break of serve]

12. an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; "it was presented without commercial breaks" [syn: interruption, disruption, gap]

13. a sudden dash; "he made a break for the open door"

14. any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare; "the break in the eighth frame cost him the match" [syn: open frame]

15. an escape from jail; "the breakout was carefully planned" [syn: breakout, jailbreak, gaolbreak, prisonbreak, prison-breaking]

16. [also: broken, broke]

"Break" is the third episode of the third series of British television sitcom, Bottom. It was first broadcast on 20 January 1995.

Break is the debut album by Japanese voice actor and actor turned singer, Mamoru Miyano. The album was released on March 11, 2009. The album was released in two formats: CD and CD+DVD version. Break contains the three singles that were released in 2007 and 2008.

"Break" is the first single from Three Days Grace's third album, Life Starts Now. It was released three weeks before Life Starts Now hit stores.

Break is the fourth studio album by the American progressive rock band Enchant. It was released in 1998.

In locksmithing, a break in the pins is a separation in one or more sections of the pin used to encode the lock for a specific key or set of keys in a master keying system.

Category:Locksmithing

Break is a 2008 action film starring Chad Everett, Sarah Thompson, Michael Madsen and James Russo.

Break EP is the debut EP by the Scottish band The Cinematics, released on 27 March 2006. Break,Sunday Sun, and Home appear in their LP versions on The Cinematics 2007 album A Strange Education. Sunday Sun is a cover from Beck's 2002 album Sea Change.

Break is the third studio album by Texan band One-Eyed Doll. It was released on 20 March 2010 and is considered by many One-Eyed Doll's "breakthrough" album.

Break may refer to:

• Recess (break), a general term for a period of time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties
• Break (work), time off during a shift
  • Coffee break, a daily social gathering for a snack and short downtime practiced by employees in business and industry
• Break (opportunity), sometimes called a "big break", a circumstance which allows an actor or musician to "break into" the industry and achieve fame
• Annual leave (holiday/vacation), paid time off work granted by employers to employees to be used for whatever the employee wishes
• Holiday break, a U.S. term for various school holidays
• Spring break, a recess in early spring at universities and schools in various countries in the northern hemisphere
• Section break, in type setting
• Commercial break, in television and radio

In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece.

A solo break in jazz occurs when the rhythm section stops playing behind a soloist for a brief period, usually two or four bars leading into the soloist's first chorus. A notable recorded example is Charlie Parker's solo break at the beginning of his solo on " A Night in Tunisia".

In DJ parlance, a break is where all elements of a song (e.g., pads, basslines, vocals), except for percussion, disappear for a time. This is distinguished from a breakdown, a section where the composition is deliberately deconstructed to minimal elements (usually the percussion or rhythm section with the vocal re-introduced over the minimal backing), all other parts having been gradually or suddenly cut out. The distinction between breaks and breakdowns may be described as, "Breaks are for the drummer; breakdowns are for hands in the air".

In hip hop and electronica, a short break is also known as a "cut", and the reintroduction of the full bass line and drums is known as a " drop", which is sometimes accented by cutting off everything, even the percussion.

A break at work is a period of time during a shift in which an employee is allowed to take time off from his/her job. There are different types of breaks, and depending on the length and the employer's policies, the break may or may not be paid.

Meal breaks or lunch breaks usually range from thirty minutes to one hour. Their purpose is to allow the employee to have a meal that is regularly scheduled during the work day. For a typical daytime job, this is lunch, but this may vary for those with other work hours. It is not uncommon for this break to be unpaid, and for the entire work day from start to finish to be longer than the number of hours paid in order to accommodate this time.

When working in a restaurant environment, staff can be required to work up to six hours straight before having a break but must be given at least 20 minutes break for each six hours worked. Employers are not allowed to make a member of their staff take a break earlier in the shift then work more than four consecutive hours or six consecutive hours in one go without a further break; for example, if an employee was working ten hours the company could not give him twenty minutes' break two hours into the shift and then expect the employee to work the rest of the shift without a further break.

According to a study, the amount of time people are taking for lunch breaks in the United States is shrinking, thereby making the term "lunch hour" a misnomer. Some employers request the lunch to be taken at their work station or not offering lunch breaks at all. Many employees are taking shorter lunch breaks in order to compete with other employees for a better position, and to show their productivity.

In some places, such as the state of California, meal breaks are legally mandated. Penalties can be severe for failing to adequately staff one's business premises so that all employees can rotate through their mandatory meal and rest breaks. For example, on April 16, 2007, the Supreme Court of California unanimously affirmed a trial court judgment requiring Kenneth Cole Productions to pay an additional hour of pay for each day that a store manager had been forced to work a nine-hour shift without a break. On April 12, 2012 the Supreme Court of California issued its long-awaited opinion in Brinker Restaurant Corp., et al. v. Superior Court., which addressed a number of issues that have been the subject of much litigation in California for many years. The California Supreme court ruled that employers satisfy their California Labor Code section 512 obligation to "provide" meal periods to nonexempt employees by (1) relieving employees of all duty; (2) relinquishing control over their activities and permitting them a reasonable opportunity to take an uninterrupted 30-minute break; and (3) not impeding or discouraging them from doing so. Importantly, the court agreed that employers are not obliged to "police" meal breaks to ensure that no work is performed. Even if an employee chooses to work during a properly provided meal period, an employer will not be liable for any premium pay, and will only be liable to pay for the time worked during a meal period so long as the employer knew or reasonably should have known that the employee was working during the meal period.