Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Broken   /brˈoʊkən/   Listen
Broken

adjective
1.
Physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split.  "A broken tooth" , "A broken leg" , "His neck is broken"  Antonym: unbroken.
2.
Not continuous in space, time, or sequence or varying abruptly.  "A broken cable transmission" , "Broken sleep" , "Tear off the stub above the broken line" , "A broken note" , "Broken sobs"  Antonym: unbroken.
3.
Subdued or brought low in condition or status.  Synonyms: crushed, humbled, humiliated, low.  "A broken man" , "His broken spirit"
4.
(especially of promises or contracts) having been violated or disregarded.  Synonym: unkept.  "Broken contracts"  Antonym: unbroken.
5.
Tamed or trained to obey.  Synonym: broken in.  "This old nag is well broken in"
6.
Topographically very uneven.  Synonym: rugged.  "Rugged ground"
7.
Imperfectly spoken or written.
8.
Thrown into a state of disarray or confusion.  Synonyms: confused, disordered, upset.  "A confused mass of papers on the desk" , "The small disordered room" , "With everything so upset"
9.
Weakened and infirm.
10.
Destroyed financially.  Synonyms: impoverished, wiped out.
11.
Out of working order ('busted' is an informal substitute for 'broken').  Synonym: busted.  "The coke machine is broken" , "The coke machine is busted"
12.
Discontinuous.  "Broken sunshine"
13.
Lacking a part or parts.



Break

verb
(past broke, obs. brake; past part. broken, obs. broke; pres. part. breaking)
1.
Terminate.  Synonym: interrupt.  "Break a lucky streak" , "Break the cycle of poverty"
2.
Become separated into pieces or fragments.  Synonyms: come apart, fall apart, separate, split up.  "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"
3.
Render inoperable or ineffective.
4.
Ruin completely.  Synonym: bust.  Antonym: repair.
5.
Destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments.  "She broke the match"
6.
Act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises.  Synonyms: breach, go against, infract, offend, transgress, violate.  "Violate the basic laws or human civilization" , "Break a law" , "Break a promise"  Antonym: keep.
7.
Move away or escape suddenly.  Synonyms: break away, break out.  "Three inmates broke jail" , "Nobody can break out--this prison is high security"
8.
Scatter or part.
9.
Force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up.  Synonyms: burst, erupt.  "Erupt in anger"
10.
Prevent completion.  Synonyms: break off, discontinue, stop.  "Break off the negotiations"
11.
Enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act.  Synonym: break in.  "They broke into my car and stole my radio!" , "Who broke into my account last night?"
12.
Make submissive, obedient, or useful.  Synonym: break in.  "I broke in the new intern"
13.
Fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns.  Synonyms: go against, violate.  Antonym: conform to.
14.
Surpass in excellence.  Synonym: better.  "Break a record"
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.  Synonyms: bring out, disclose, discover, divulge, expose, give away, let on, let out, reveal, unwrap.  "The actress won't reveal how old she is" , "Bring out the truth" , "He broke the news to her" , "Unwrap the evidence in the murder case"
16.
Come into being.  "Voices broke in the air"
17.
Stop operating or functioning.  Synonyms: break down, conk out, die, fail, give out, give way, go, go bad.  "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"
18.
Interrupt a continued activity.  Synonym: break away.
19.
Make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing.
20.
Curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves.
21.
Lessen in force or effect.  Synonyms: damp, dampen, soften, weaken.  "Break a fall"
22.
Be broken in.
23.
Come to an end.
24.
Vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity.
25.
Cause to give up a habit.
26.
Give up.
27.
Come forth or begin from a state of latency.
28.
Happen or take place.
29.
Cause the failure or ruin of.  "This play will either make or break the playwright"  Antonym: make.
30.
Invalidate by judicial action.
31.
Discontinue an association or relation; go different ways.  Synonyms: break up, part, separate, split, split up.  "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage" , "My friend and I split up"
32.
Assign to a lower position; reduce in rank.  Synonyms: bump, demote, kick downstairs, relegate.  "He was broken down to Sergeant"  Antonym: promote.
33.
Reduce to bankruptcy.  Synonyms: bankrupt, ruin, smash.  "The slump in the financial markets smashed him"
34.
Change directions suddenly.
35.
Emerge from the surface of a body of water.
36.
Break down, literally or metaphorically.  Synonyms: cave in, collapse, fall in, founder, give, give way.  "The business collapsed" , "The dam broke" , "The roof collapsed" , "The wall gave in" , "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"
37.
Do a break dance.  Synonyms: break-dance, break dance.
38.
Exchange for smaller units of money.
39.
Destroy the completeness of a set of related items.  Synonym: break up.
40.
Make the opening shot that scatters the balls.
41.
Separate from a clinch, in boxing.
42.
Go to pieces.  Synonyms: bust, fall apart, wear, wear out.  "The gears wore out" , "The old chair finally fell apart completely"
43.
Break a piece from a whole.  Synonyms: break off, snap off.
44.
Become punctured or penetrated.
45.
Pierce or penetrate.
46.
Be released or become known; of news.  Synonyms: get around, get out.
47.
Cease an action temporarily.  Synonyms: intermit, pause.  "Let's break for lunch"
48.
Interrupt the flow of current in.
49.
Undergo breaking.
50.
Find a flaw in.  "Break down a proof"
51.
Find the solution or key to.
52.
Change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another.
53.
Happen.  Synonyms: develop, recrudesce.  "These political movements recrudesce from time to time"
54.
Become fractured; break or crack on the surface only.  Synonyms: check, crack.
55.
Crack; of the male voice in puberty.
56.
Fall sharply.
57.
Fracture a bone of.  Synonym: fracture.
58.
Diminish or discontinue abruptly.
59.
Weaken or destroy in spirit or body.  "A man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"



Related searches:



WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar





"Broken" Quotes from Famous Books



... whom he found With zeal preparing for the battle-field: "Relax not, valiant friends, your warlike toil; For Jove to falsehood ne'er will give his aid; And they who first, regardless of their oaths, Have broken truce, shall with their flesh themselves The vultures feed, while we, their city raz'd, Their wives ...
— The Iliad • Homer

... blown away, and when the storm was over we patched our riven tents, and were thankful we had weathered it so well. Then came the summer rains—late in season, it is true, but great in strength—pouring and lashing and roaring, the great drops bursting through our rent cloth, broken up into spray and looking like pepper shaken from a box. We had waterproof sheets, but it was next to impossible to keep anything dry. While the rain lasted we sat huddled in our rain cloaks, or, spade in ...
— James Gilmour of Mongolia - His diaries, letters, and reports • James Gilmour

... be possible, and yet I don't see any way of preventing it. I wish I could talk with a gentleman like Lieutenant Trent, but he would only regard me as a tale-bearer, and after that he would have no use for me. One thing I can see clearly. Cantor is likely to have me broken and kicked out of the service if I am forced to remain in his division week ...
— Dave Darrin at Vera Cruz • H. Irving Hancock

... much of the dignity of a broken heart in her attitude, and walked forward in a very ...
— 'Lizbeth of the Dale • Marian Keith

... she felt herself breaking, and not long for this world, and that she hoped and prayed before she went, that she might see her two children one. The late events, Pen's life and career and former passion for the actress, had broken the spirit of this tender lady. She felt that he had escaped her, and was in the maternal nest no more; and she clung with a sickening fondness to Laura, Laura who had been left to her by ...
— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray


More quotes...



Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com