To ruin financially.

• The recession broke some small businesses.
• With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks, / Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.

obsoleteTo fail in business; to go broke, to become bankrupt.

• He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes break, and come to poverty.
• ‘I knew he was in some such low way—He broke did not he?’

businessfinanceOf prices on the stock exchange: to fall suddenly.

• With a few exceptions, stock prices tend to follow the overall market averages. When you have a market decline, therefore, many stocks share the same overall chart pattern. Prices break and go sideways for a period of time.

To violate; to fail to adhere to.

• When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law.
• He broke his vows by cheating on his wife.

To end a fever.

• Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over.

To end a fever.

• The treatment broke my fever.
• Carl broke his fever this morning.

To end.

• The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek.

To begin or end.

• We ran to find shelter before the storm broke.
• Around midday the storm broke, and the afternoon was calm and sunny.

To arrive.

• Morning has broken.
• The day broke crisp and clear.

slanggamesgamingTo render (a game) unchallenging by altering its rules or exploiting loopholes or weaknesses in them in a way that gives a player an unfair advantage.

• Changing the rules to let white have three extra queens would break chess.
• I broke the RPG by training every member of my party to cast fireballs as well as use swords.

To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.

• On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke.
• Did you two break the trolley by racing with it?

To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.

• Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions.

To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.

• to break a seal
• I'm a riddle so strong, you can't break me

To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.

To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.

To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.

• The cavalry were not able to break the British squares.

To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.

• There are many places on the reef that break during the summer.

To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.

• The Clouds are ſtill above; and, while I ſpeak, / A ſecond deluge o'er our head may break.
• And from the turf a fountain broke, / And gurgled at our feet.

To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily; to go on break.

• Let's break for lunch.

To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately) hit something else beneath.

• He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall.

To disclose or make known an item of news, a band, etc.

• The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous.
• I don’t know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back.

To become audible suddenly.

• Like the crash of thunderbolts…, the sound of musquetry broke over the lawn, ….

To change a steady state abruptly.

• His coughing broke the silence.
• His turning on the lights broke the enchantment.

To (attempt to) disengage and flee to; to make a run for.

• As the last firing of the big guns begins to die down, the German light forces still fighting to the west begin to make their choices. Some break for the open sea; others run for the German-occupied coast; still others stand and die. A small group decide to strike their colors, in imitation of three of the larger German ships.

informalTo suddenly become.

• Things began breaking bad for him when his parents died.
• The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly.

To become deeper at puberty.

To alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men, generally to go up, in women, sometimes to go down; to crack.

• His voice breaks when he gets emotional.

cookingfoodlifestyleTo lose a texture.

• If you cook it too long, coconut milk will break.
• A microwave will create hot spots that can break the sauce.

cookingfoodlifestyleTo lose a texture.

To surpass or do better than (a specific number); to do better than (a record), setting a new record.

• He broke the men's 100-meter record.
• I can't believe she broke 3 under par!

gameshobbieslifestyleTo win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver.

• He needs to break serve to win the match.
• Yet when play restarted the Czech was a train that kept on running over Nadal. After breaking Nadal in the opening game of the final set, he went 2-0 up and later took the count to 4-2 with yet another emphatic ace – one of his 22 throughout.

ball-gamesbilliardsgamesTo make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement.

• Is it your or my turn to break?

backgammongameshobbiesTo remove one of the two men on (a point).

governmentmilitarypoliticsTo demote; to reduce the military rank of.

• Sir Reginald Wingate, High Commissioner in Egypt, was happy for the success of the work he had advocated for years. I grudged him this happiness; for McMahon, who took the actual risk of starting it, had been broken just before prosperity began.
• And he played no favorites: when his son-in-law sacked a city he had been told to spare, Genghis broke him to private.

To end (a connection); to disconnect.

• The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch.
• The referee broke the boxers' clinch.

hobbieslifestylesportsTo counter-attack.

• The Baggies almost hit back instantly when Graham Dorrans broke from midfield and pulled the trigger from 15 yards but Paul Robinson did superbly to tip the Scot's drive around the post.

obsoleteTo lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

• Katharine, break thy mind to me.

To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.

• See how the dean begins to break; / Poor gentleman he droops apace.

To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.

• to break flax

To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.

• when I see a great officer broke.

To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change gait.

• to break into a run or gallop

archaicTo fall out; to terminate friendship.

• c. 1700 Jeremy Collier, On Friendship To break upon the score of danger or expense is to be mean and narrow-spirited.

computingengineeringmathematicsTo terminate the execution of a program before normal completion.

computingengineeringmathematicsTo suspend the execution of a program during debugging so that the state of the program can be investigated.

computingengineeringmathematicsTo cause, or allow the occurrence of, a line break.

• zero-width non-breaking space

An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game.

• But they marginally improved after the break as Didier Drogba hit the post.

A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention.

• big break
• lucky break, bad break

businessfinanceA sudden fall in prices on the stock exchange.

• Following the invasion of France by the Germans in May of 1940, the securities markets experienced a break in prices.

The beginning (of the morning).

• daybreak
• at the break of day

An act of escaping.

• to make a break for it; to make a break for the door
• It was a clean break.

computingengineeringmathematicsThe separation between lines, paragraphs or pages of a written text.

• No matter how much text you add above the break, the text after the break will always appear at the top of a new page.

computingengineeringmathematicsA keystroke or other signal that causes a program to terminate or suspend execution.

climatologymeteorologynatural-sciencesA change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.

gameshobbieslifestyleA game won by the receiving player(s).

ball-gamesbilliardsgamesThe first shot in a game of billiards.

ball-gamesgameshobbiesThe number of points scored by one player in one visit to the table.

ball-gamesgameshobbiesThe counter-attack.

• Blackpool were not without their opportunities - thanks to their willingness to commit and leave men forward even when under severe pressure - and they looked very capable of scoring on the break.

gamesgolfhobbiesThe curve imparted to the ball's motion on the green due to slope or grass texture.

gameshobbieslifestyleA place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).

• The final break in the Greenmount area is Kirra Point.
• One of the most popular summer breaks is just off to one side of the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor entrance, a spot called Ala Moana.

gameshobbieshorse-racingThe start of a horse race.

• Cigar was distracted at the break and let his five opponents get the jump.
• Perhaps it stumbles to its knees at the break, effectively losing the race at the outset.

gameshobbieslifestyleThe opening of packages of cards for a collectible card game, often for further distribution to paying customers.

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

equitationhobbieshorsesA sharp bit or snaffle.

• Pampered jades […] which need nor break nor bit.

entertainmentlifestylemusicA short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.

• The fiddle break was amazing; it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note.
• The effect was weird, because with that intuitive sense possessed by the African, every drummer knew exactly when the “breaks” were coming, and whole banks of bass drums would drop out precisely on the beat.

entertainmentlifestylemusicThe point in the musical scale at which a woodwind instrument is designed to overblow, that is, to move from its lower to its upper register.

• Crossing the break smoothly is one of the first lessons the young clarinettist needs to master.

entertainmentlifestylemusicThe transition area between a singer's vocal registers; the passaggio.

• 34. Of the Registers of the Voice - All singers have observed that there are certain parts of the Vocal Scale where a break, as it is called, seldom fails to occur.
• The point of division between the two vocal registers is most frequently referred to as the register’s break.

geographynatural-sciencesAn area along a river that features steep banks, bluffs, or gorges (e.g., Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, US).

obsoleteslangAn error.

• "Maybe he will some day," says the Missus, and then her and Bessie pretended like they'd made a break and was embarrassed.

businessclothingfashionA crease or fold arising where the pants leg reaches the shoe.

• A full break or even multiple breaks is an older, more conservative style, as modern pants often end well above the shoe, so there is no break.