1.
If part of something breaks off or if you break it off, it comes off or is removed by force.
The two wings of the aircraft broke off on impact...
Grace broke off a large piece of the clay...
They’ve torn down wooden fences and broken branches off trees.
PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P n (not pron), V n P n, also V n P
2.
If you ~ when you are doing or saying something, you suddenly stop doing it or saying it.
Llewelyn broke off in mid-sentence...
The commander of the German task force radioed that he was breaking off the action.
PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P n (not pron), also V n P
3.
If someone breaks off a relationship, they end it.
The two West African states had broken off relations two years ago...
He doesn’t seem to have the courage to break it off with her.
PHRASAL VERB: pl-n V P n (not pron), V it P with n (non-recip)