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# break

«break» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make something come apart into pieces, so it can no…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (break, breaks, broke, broken, breaking); noun (a break, breaks)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To break is to make something come apart into pieces, so it can no longer be used. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#m1)

2) To break is to stop working: «The TV broke». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#m2)

3) To break a rule or a promise is to not keep it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#m3)

4) A break is a short rest from work or school: «morning break». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#m4)

5) To break a record is to do better than anyone before. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#m5)

6) To break out is to start suddenly, as fire, fighting or trouble does. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#m6)

### sense in the lessons

to spoil things, so they no longer count; a break is a rest time at school; to break a number apart is to split it into parts (14 = 10 + 4); phrases: «break into pieces», «break down», «break a promise», «take a break», «break apart»

### examples

- Anna breaks 5 cookies. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x1)
- 16 pencils broke. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x2)
- Of 24 glasses, 3 are broken. How many are not broken? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x3)
- We play football at morning break. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x4)
- Ben broke his arm when he fell off his bike. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x5)
- Never break a promise to a friend. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x6)
- Break 15 into 10 and 5 to add it more easily. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x7)
- She broke the school record for the long jump. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x8)
- The flames were breaking out from below. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/#x9)

### note

Past: broke; past participle: broken. «breaks N» takes N away from the good things. Trap: breaking one thing into pieces can make more pieces, not fewer. Safety: tell an adult about broken glass; do not pick it up.

### In the corpora

- [A homeless person has nowhere safe to live, often because of losing a job, a family breaking up or illness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/32-bad-news-protests-and-helping-others/19/)
- [Adults sometimes switch off heavy news to take a break from it, because too much bad news makes anyone gloomy.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/34-when-grown-ups-are-tired-or-worried/19/)
- [Saving means putting money aside now for something bigger later, or for emergencies like a broken boiler.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/39-money-work-and-the-big-choices/8/)
- [A learner driver has L plates and a grown-up beside them; check before you accuse anyone of breaking the law.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/42-our-street-feuds-newcomers-and-stories-that-grow/16/)
- ["Musical differences" and "taking a break" mean only what was said; nobody outside the band knows the rest.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/48-famous-people-are-people/12/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «break» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/break/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.