[break up] vi (15c) 1 a: to cease to exist as a unified whole: disperse "their partnership broke up" b: to end a romance
2: to lose morale, composure, or resolution; esp: to become abandoned to laughter "breaks up completely, laughing himself into a coughing fit --Gene Williams" ~ vt 1: to break into pieces
2: to bring to an end "broke up the fight"
3: to do away with: destroy "break up a monopoly"
4: to disrupt the continuity or flow of "break up a dull routine"
5: decompose "break up a chemical"
6: to cause to laugh heartily "that joke breaks me up"