breaking

verb

Definition of breakingnext
present participle of break
1
as in disrupting
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly hated telling her that I had broken her favorite glass vase

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2
as in stopping
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end the final vote broke the deadlock

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3
as in reducing
to bring to a lower grade or rank the captain was broken to lieutenant commander for disobeying a direct order from his group commander

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4
as in deciphering
to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park mathematicians broke the Enigma code being used by the Nazis

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5
as in pausing
to come to a temporary halt in one's activity she broke from her ruminations to find that it was already dinnertime

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6
as in plowing
to cut into and turn over the sod of (a piece of land) using a bladed implement farmers once broke fields with horse-drawn plows

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7
as in violating
to fail to keep had to confess that he had broken his promise not to share their conversation with anyone

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8
as in solving
to find an answer for through reasoning Professor Bates broke the problem when she realized that it was possible to synthesize the necessary compounds

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9
as in damaging
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of I broke a tooth on the hard candy

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10
as in dying
to stop functioning after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day

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11
as in retreating
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the herd of gazelles broke when they saw the lions racing toward them from the ridge above

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12
as in wearing
to use up all the physical energy of the trek up the mountain just about broke me

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13
as in spreading
to become known as soon as the scandal broke, the CEO fled the country

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14
as in bankrupting
to cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts another bad investment could break him

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15
as in originating
to come into existence the crisis had passed, and a new day was breaking

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16
as in veering
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course the running back broke to his left before running out of bounds

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17
as in lowering
to diminish the price or value of distressing economic news that will break many energy stocks

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18
as in exceeding
to go beyond the limit of a menu with prices that is likely to break the budgets of all but the wealthiest of diners

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19
as in surfacing
to penetrate the surface (as of water) from below dolphins were breaking all around the boat

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of breaking Zelensky accused Moscow of breaking the apparent agreement and, in turn, resumed strikes against Russian oil facilities, defying pressure from Washington. — Olivia-Anne Cleary, Time, 21 Oct. 2026 Jurors began deliberating Wednesday afternoon and continued Thursday and Friday before breaking for the weekend. — Adam Thompson, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2026 This tactical pen includes a powerful little flashlight, a strong glass-breaking tip, a blade, a graphite pen, and a magnetic screwdriver with room to hold three bits. — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 19 Oct. 2026 With the biggest comeback in NBA finals history, the Knicks were one step closer to securing the championship and breaking a 53-year drought. — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026 In 1995, however, Reeve, a competitive equestrian, had a devastating accident, breaking his spine while riding, and becoming paralyzed for the rest of his life. — Kate Aurthur, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026 Katie Zacharia made her debut as Donald Trump‘s new White House press secretary on Tuesday with a very short briefing that nevertheless offered a bit of breaking news as well as a lot of praise and thanks for her new boss. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026 While the idea of slowly, safely developing a potentially society-breaking technology may sound appealing, the financial incentives may be too high for that to ever happen. — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026 Ramírez helped the Guardians get two more by breaking for third with two outs and two strikes on Adell. — Rob Maaddi, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaking
  1. disrupting
  2. stopping
  3. reducing
  4. deciphering
  5. pausing
  6. plowing
  7. violating
  8. solving
Verb
  • Habits are usually paired with physical or emotional cues, and disrupting those cues can disrupt the habit.
    — Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Eight years ago, protesters frequently drove coverage in their preferred direction by disrupting candidates (Movimiento Cosecha pushed Biden to endorse a deportation moratorium, for instance) and showing up to press them at Q&As.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of disrupting
Verb
  • While Joseph was productive with his legs, garnering 71 yards and one touchdown, the Bruins were effectively stopping the run — a theme consistent throughout the season — limiting the Badger running backs to 54 yards.
    — Connor Dullinger, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Dylan, who adheres to a constant tour schedule and shows no signs of stopping soon, was 75 years-old when given his Nobel.
    — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of stopping
Verb
  • While serving as a public health official, el Sayed wrote an op-ed in 2019 strongly supporting the Green New Deal, arguing that reducing greenhouse gas emissions will help improve public health.
    — Maydeen Merino, The Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Together, the tools could help accelerate the development of more resilient electric motor systems while reducing the risks associated with critical material shortages, volatile supply chains and rapidly changing global markets.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of reducing
Verb
  • Bahdanau was working with artificial neural networks, which had already shown promise in pattern-recognition tasks such as deciphering handwriting and identifying objects in photos.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 12 Oct. 2026
  • In addition to developing better medicines or perfumes, deciphering the mirror images of molecules can help scientists understand the chemical architecture of life, said chemist Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the journal Science.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of deciphering
Verb
  • Companies across the industry have been idling facilities, with Suntory pausing production at one of Jim Beam’s three Kentucky distilleries to upgrade the site while demand is low.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Head straight up, pausing to breathe and appreciate the views.
    — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of pausing
Verb
  • Durham cautions evacuating drivers from plowing through flood water with an electric vehicle.
    — Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The House Democrats’ campaign arm is now plowing extra resources into the gerrymandered seat in Tennessee.
    — Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of plowing
Verb
  • In the letter, Omar's attorneys accused the Justice Department of violating longstanding agency policy designed to avoid potentially influencing an election.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
  • He was arrested again a week later after violating a protection order by trying to contact the woman, according to the arrest affidavit.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of violating
Verb
  • Besides transporting me back to ancient China, solving this problem took me back to my own roots as a mathematician.
    — Dana Mackenzie, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The experiment shows that small models are becoming increasingly capable at solving those problems autonomously.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of solving

Phrases Containing breaking

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break-in
breaking
breaking bread
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Cite this Entry

“Breaking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaking. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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