Bible Dictionaries
Break

Webster's Dictionary

(1):

(v. t.) To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.

(2):

(v. t.) To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.

(3):

(v. t.) To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.

(4):

(v. t.) To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle.

(5):

(v. t.) To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.

(6):

(v. t.) 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.

(7):

(v. t.) To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.

(8):

(v. i.) To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.

(9):

(v. t.) To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.

(10):

(v. i.) To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn.

(11):

(v. i.) To burst forth violently, as a storm.

(12):

(v. i.) To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking.

(13):

(v. t.) To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.

(14):

(v. t.) To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.

(15):

(v. i.) To fall in business; to become bankrupt.

(16):

(v. i.) To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop.

(17):

(v. i.) 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.

(18):

(v. i.) To fall out; to terminate friendship.

(19):

(v. t.) An opening made by fracture or disruption.

(20):

(v. t.) An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship.

(21):

(v. t.) A projection or recess from the face of a building.

(22):

(v. t.) To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.

(23):

(v. t.) An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.

(24):

(v. t.) An interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc.

(25):

(v. t.) The first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.

(26):

(v. t.) A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.

(27):

(v. t.) A device for checking motion, or for measuring friction. See Brake, n. 9 & 10.

(28):

(n.) See Commutator.

(29):

(v. t.) To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.

(30):

(v. t.) 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.

(31):

(v. t.) To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.

(32):

(v. t.) To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

(33):

(v. t.) 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.

(34):

(v. i.) To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.

(35):

(v. i.) To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking.

(36):

(v. i.) To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.

(37):

(v. t.) An opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current.