BREAKING


Meaning of BREAKING in English

breaking 1

/bray"king/ , n.

Phonol. the change of a pure vowel to a diphthong, esp. in certain environments, as, in Old English, the change of a vowel to a diphthong under the influence of a following consonant or combination of consonants, as the change of -a- to -ea- and of -e- to -eo- before preconsonantal r or l and before h, as in earm "arm" developed from arm, and eorthe "earth" from erthe. Also called vowel fracture .

[ 1870-75; trans. of G Brechung; see BREAK, -ING 1 ]

breaking 2

/bray"king/ , n.

See break dancing .

[ by ellipsis ]

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .