break

to make an activity, relationship, agreement, or organization end and not continue, or for it to end that way.

• end

  the plainest general equivalent

• destroy

  stronger, often stressing ruin rather than simple stopping

• terminate

  more formal, especially for agreements or official arrangements

• continue

  to keep going instead of stopping

• preserve

  to keep a relationship or system in existence

to achieve a better result than the highest one reached before.

• beat

  common and slightly more informal

• surpass

  more formal and broader than record-setting

• top

  informal, often used in headlines or speech

• miss

  to fail to reach the previous best result

• fall short of

  to stay below the record or target

to go against a law, rule, promise, or agreement by not obeying it.

• violate

  more formal, especially for laws or rules

• disobey

  common for rules, orders, or instructions

• go against

  broader and can sound less formal

• obey

  to do what a rule or order says

• keep

  common with promises or agreements

to separate something into smaller parts, groups, or kinds, or to separate in this way.

• divide

  the closest neutral equivalent

• split

  often suggests making clear separate sections

• separate

  broader and can be less structured

• unite

  to bring parts or groups together

• combine

  to join different parts into one whole

to stop an activity for a short time before it continues, or to make this happen.

• pause

  the nearest everyday equivalent

• interrupt

  often focuses on the break in continuity

• suspend

  more formal, especially for meetings or official activity

• continue

  to keep going without a pause

• resume

  to start again after the pause

to enter, escape, or make a way forward by pushing, hitting, or fighting hard.

• force

  broader; can also mean making someone do something

• burst in

  usually means entering suddenly and noisily

• break through

  focuses on getting past a barrier or line

to lose the strength to stay calm, brave, or in control, or to cause this in someone.

• collapse

  stronger; suggests losing control completely

• crack

  informal; often suggests pressure finally having an effect

• demoralise

  transitive only; focuses on taking away confidence

• cope

  emphasises continuing to manage a hard situation

• hold together

  focuses on keeping control of emotions

if news breaks, people begin to hear it; if someone breaks it, they tell or publish it first.

• spread

  focuses on news moving from person to person, not on the first telling

• leak

  suggests secret information getting out unofficially

• reveal

  neutral and broader; not limited to first publication

• hide

  keep information from becoming known

• suppress

  deliberately stop information from reaching the public

if waves break, they roll forward, curl, and crash into land or another surface as white foam.

• crash

  stresses the force of the impact

• roll in

  focuses on movement toward land, not the falling crest

• pound

  suggests repeated heavy striking

• recede

  describes water moving back from the shore

if the weather breaks, fine conditions suddenly turn into rain, wind, or colder air.

• turn

  common and less literary for a change in weather

• change

  neutral and broad; it does not always imply worse conditions

• deteriorate

  more formal; clearly means becoming worse

• clear up

  describes bad weather becoming fine

when a storm comes on, it appears very quickly and begins hitting an area.

• begin

  plain and neutral, without the sudden dramatic force

• erupt

  stronger and more dramatic; often used for conflict or anger too

• burst

  suggests a sudden, forceful start

for the morning to begin as the sky starts to grow light.

• begin

  the broadest choice, but less vivid than 'break' for morning light

• come

  common in phrases like 'morning came', with less focus on light

• dawn

  more literary when used as a verb

• fall

  used for night arriving instead of daylight beginning

for a boy's voice to change into a lower adult sound during puberty.

• deepen

  focuses on the lower sound, not the sudden unstable stage

• change

  general and less specific than 'break'

• crack

  often describes the unstable sound heard during the change

for someone's voice to lose its usual sound suddenly because they are strongly affected.

• quaver

  suggests a shaking sound, often from emotion or weakness

• tremble

  broader and can describe the whole voice or body

• crack

  focuses on the sudden change in sound

• steady

  describes a voice staying calm and even

in tennis, to take the opponent's service game.

• take the serve

  common sports wording for winning against the server

• win on return

  explains the idea more directly for learners

• get a service break

  noun phrase used to describe the result

• hold serve

  to win your own service game instead

in team sports, to win the ball and rush forward before the other side is ready.

• counterattack

  the clearest near-equivalent in general sports English

• break away

  often stresses getting free from defenders

• surge forward

  describes the movement, with less sports-specific meaning

• retreat

  to move back instead of attacking fast

to play the first shot with the cue ball at the start of pool, snooker, or a similar table game.

• open play

  describes starting the game, but is less exact than 'break'

• take the first shot

  clear explanatory wording for learners

• start the rack

  specific to pool rather than all cue sports

If a moving ball breaks, it suddenly curves away from the line it seemed to be following.

• swerve

  suggests a sudden turn, often sharper than 'break'

• curve

  is broader and can describe smoother movement

• veer

  often describes movement away from a course, not only in sports

• go straight

  describes the ball keeping its expected line

to make a horse used to people until it can carry riders or pull a cart safely.

• train

  is broader and can describe many kinds of teaching, not only early horse handling

• tame

  focuses on making an animal less wild, not specifically ready for riding

• gentle

  is used especially in horse language for making an animal calmer with people

the planned time for advertisements between parts of a television or radio show.

• commercial break

  more explicit and especially common in American English

• ad break

  shorter everyday form, especially in British English

a short rest during work or study, often used for tea, coffee, or lunch.

• rest

  broader and not always a named period in the day

• interval

  more formal and common for organised events

• pause

  can be shorter and less comfortable than a break

the usual part of the school day when classes stop for a short time and children can talk, eat, or play.

• recess

  the usual American English term

• playtime

  more child-focused and often used in primary schools

a longer time when you are not doing your job or normal daily activities, often for rest, recovery, or travel.

• holiday

  more clearly means time away for pleasure

• time off

  very close in meaning, especially for leave from work

• respite

  more formal and often suggests relief from pressure

in the phrase 'give someone a break', time when a person does not have to keep working or doing the usual task.

• time off

  broader and not limited to this fixed phrase

• rest

  shorter and more general; not tied to the idiom

relief from criticism or pressure when someone stops being hard on you.

• mercy

  stronger and more emotional; often about avoiding punishment

• slack

  informal and common in the phrase cut someone some slack

• leniency

  more formal; often used about rules or punishment

• pressure

  continued demands instead of relief

• criticism

  negative comments rather than kinder treatment

a chance that suddenly helps someone move ahead, often because good luck opens a door at the right moment.

• chance

  the broad everyday word; not always lucky or sudden

• opportunity

  more neutral and planned; less tied to luck

• stroke of luck

  strongly emphasizes unexpected good fortune

• setback

  something that blocks progress instead of helping it

• misfortune

  bad luck rather than helpful luck

the way events turn out, especially in a bad or unfair way that people say they must simply accept.

• fate

  broader and more serious; not usually informal

• luck

  everyday word for good or bad results by chance

• the way things go

  plain spoken phrase with a similar accepting tone

• lucky break

  an unexpectedly helpful chance instead of bad luck

a split, opening, or weak place left where something has snapped or been damaged.

• crack

  often a narrow line; break can be wider or more complete

• gap

  focuses on the open space left behind

• fracture

  more technical, especially for bones or hard materials

• whole part

  an unbroken section with no opening

an end or split in a relationship, connection, trade link, or continuing pattern.

• split

  more direct and common for people or groups

• rupture

  more formal and stronger, often for serious division

• disconnection

  stresses the lost link more than the event

• continuity

  an unbroken connection over time

• reunion

  people or groups coming together again

a deliberate move away from a person, custom, or belief that someone had been closely tied to before.

• departure

  formal word for moving away from an older way

• split

  good for leaving a person or group, but less suited to tradition

• rejection

  stresses refusing an old belief or system

• loyalty

  staying faithful to the person or tradition

• continuation

  keeping the old way instead of leaving it

the result of a receiver taking the server's game in tennis.

• service break

  more explicit term naming the same result

• break of serve

  common tennis phrasing, especially in commentary

• hold serve

  the server wins the game instead of losing it

in snooker or billiards, the total points a player scores in one turn.

• run

  close in cue-sport talk; often used more generally for points made in sequence

• visit score

  plain explanatory term rather than a fixed sports label

in pool, snooker, or billiards, the first shot that begins a game and spreads the balls.

• opening shot

  neutral descriptive equivalent

• opening break

  more explicit phrase used in cue-sport contexts

in team games, a quick move from defense to attack after a team wins the ball near its own side.

• fast break

  very common, especially in basketball

• counterattack

  broader sports term; not always as immediate as a break

• set play

  a slower, organized attack after the defense is in place

a sudden rush out of a place or toward safety, often using force.

• escape

  broader and less vivid than 'break'

• breakout

  often used for a prison or military escape involving force

• capture

  the escape attempt fails and the person is caught

the early moment when night starts to give way to daylight.

• dawn

  the everyday word for this time of morning

• daybreak

  common single-word form; less literary than this noun phrase use

• nightfall

  the time when daylight disappears