noun ·see commutator.
2. break ·vi to fall out; to terminate friendship.
3. break ·vi to burst forth violently, as a storm.
4. break ·vi to fall in business; to become bankrupt.
5. break ·vt an opening made by fracture or disruption.
6. break ·vt to shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
7. break ·vt to weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
8. break ·vt a projection or recess from the face of a building.
9. break ·vt to infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
10. break ·vt to lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
11. break ·vt to diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.
12. break ·vt to destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.
13. break ·vt to destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.
14. break ·vi to open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking.
15. break ·vi to become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
xvi. break ·vi to be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking.
xvii. break ·vt a device for checking motion, or for measuring friction. ·see brake, ·noun 9 & 10.
xviii. break ·vt an opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current.
xix. break ·vt an interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.
xx. break ·vt to destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.
xxi. break ·vi to make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop.
xxii. break ·vt to lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.
xxiii. break ·vi to open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.
xxiv. break ·vt to exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
xxv. break ·vt the first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.
xxvi. break ·vt an interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship.
xxvii. break ·vt an interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, ·etc.
xxviii. break ·vi to burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn.
xxix. break ·vt to destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
xxx. break ·vt a large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.
xxxi. break ·vi to come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.
xxxii. break ·vt to destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the british squares.
xxxiii. break ·vt to tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle.
xxxiv. break ·vt to interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey.
xxxv. break ·vt to strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.
xxxvi. break ·vt to impart, as news or information; to broach;
with to, and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as, to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose cautiously to a friend.
xxxvii. break ·vi to fail in musical quality; as, a singer's voice breaks when it is strained beyond its compass and a tone or note is not completed, but degenerates into an unmusical sound instead. also, to change in tone, as a boy's voice at puberty.