Broken — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly

"hated telling her that I had broken her favorite glass vase"

to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end

"the final vote broke the deadlock"

to bring to a lower grade or rank

"the captain was broken to lieutenant commander for disobeying a direct order from his group commander"

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"

to come to a temporary halt in one's activity

"she broke from her ruminations to find that it was already dinnertime"

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"

to fail to keep

"had to confess that he had broken his promise not to share their conversation with anyone"

to find an answer for through reasoning

"Professor Bates broke the problem when she realized that it was possible to synthesize the necessary compounds"

to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of

"I broke a tooth on the hard candy"

to stop functioning

"after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day"

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"

to use up all the physical energy of

"the trek up the mountain just about broke me"

to become known

"as soon as the scandal broke, the CEO fled the country"

to cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts

"another bad investment could break him"

to come into existence

"the crisis had passed, and a new day was breaking"

to depart abruptly from a straight line or course

"the running back broke to his left before running out of bounds"

to diminish the price or value of

"distressing economic news that will break many energy stocks"

to go beyond the limit of

"a menu with prices that is likely to break the budgets of all but the wealthiest of diners"

to penetrate the surface (as of water) from below

"dolphins were breaking all around the boat"

to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly

"hated telling her that I had broken her favorite glass vase"

to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end

"the final vote broke the deadlock"

to bring to a lower grade or rank

"the captain was broken to lieutenant commander for disobeying a direct order from his group commander"

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"

to come to a temporary halt in one's activity

"she broke from her ruminations to find that it was already dinnertime"

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"

to fail to keep

"had to confess that he had broken his promise not to share their conversation with anyone"

to find an answer for through reasoning

"Professor Bates broke the problem when she realized that it was possible to synthesize the necessary compounds"

to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of

"I broke a tooth on the hard candy"

to stop functioning

"after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day"

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"

to use up all the physical energy of

"the trek up the mountain just about broke me"

to become known

"as soon as the scandal broke, the CEO fled the country"

to cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts

"another bad investment could break him"

to come into existence

"the crisis had passed, and a new day was breaking"

to depart abruptly from a straight line or course

"the running back broke to his left before running out of bounds"

to diminish the price or value of

"distressing economic news that will break many energy stocks"

to go beyond the limit of

"a menu with prices that is likely to break the budgets of all but the wealthiest of diners"

to penetrate the surface (as of water) from below

"dolphins were breaking all around the boat"

in a bad or weak condition because of being old, not well cared for, etc.

"A broken-down car was blocking one of the lanes of the road."

"His body was now broken-down after many years of hard living."

as in got, gone down (with)

as in unyoked, dissevered

to arrange or assign according to type

"when presented with the pile of files, the first thing he did was to break them down by month, order within the month, and region"

to go through decomposition

"the enamel of a human tooth will begin to break down when exposed to sugar for too long"

to identify and examine the basic elements or parts of (something) especially for discovering interrelationships

"if we break the problem down into what appear to be three aspects of it, we'll have a better chance of solving it"

to stop functioning

"the computer finally broke down and had to be replaced"

to yield to mental or emotional stress

"began to break down when he realized that he was on the verge of bankruptcy"

to take apart

"the crew was breaking down the party tent when we arrived"

to cause to break with violence and much noise

"firefighters had to break down the wall to rescue the kitten"

to enter a house or building by force usually with illegal intent

"the burglars broke in by smashing a window"

to cause a disruption in a conversation or discussion

"he rudely broke in to drop the names of several celebrities that he had met"

to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end

"the judge broke off court proceedings until after lunch"

to come to an end

"talks between the two sides broke off when one began making unreasonable demands"