| / English Dictionary |
BREAK UP
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Laugh unrestrainedly
Synonyms:
break up; crack up
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
express joy; express mirth; laugh (produce laughter)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sense 2
Meaning:
Separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts
Synonyms:
break down; break up; decompose
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
separate (divide into components or constituents)
Domain category:
chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
digest (soften or disintegrate by means of chemical action, heat, or moisture)
dissociate (to undergo a reversible or temporary breakdown of a molecule into simpler molecules or atoms)
crack (reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Cause to separate
Example:
disperse particles
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
change integrity (change in physical make-up)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
backscatter (scatter (radiation) by the atoms of the medium through which it passes)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Break or cause to break into pieces
Example:
The plate fragmented
Synonyms:
break up; fragment; fragmentise; fragmentize
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
break; come apart; fall apart; separate; split up (become separated into pieces or fragments)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
grate; grind (make a grating or grinding sound by rubbing together)
crush (break into small pieces)
brecciate (break into breccia)
crumb (break into crumbs)
rag (break into lumps before sorting)
sliver; splinter (break up into splinters or slivers)
sunder (break apart or in two, using violence)
pound (break down and crush by beating, as with a pestle)
bray; comminute; crunch; grind; mash (reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading)
atomise; atomize (break up into small particles)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody of something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Come to an end
Example:
The tobacco monopoly broke up
Synonyms:
break up; dissolve
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
end; terminate (bring to an end or halt)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Sense 6
Meaning:
Bring the association of to an end or cause to break up
Example:
the judge dissolved the tobacco company
Synonyms:
break up; dissolve
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
end; terminate (bring to an end or halt)
Verb group:
dismiss; dissolve (declare void)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 7
Meaning:
Close at the end of a session
Example:
The court adjourned
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
cease; end; finish; stop; terminate (have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Sense 8
Meaning:
Cause to go into a solution
Example:
The recipe says that we should dissolve a cup of sugar in two cups of water
Synonyms:
break up; dissolve; resolve
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
change integrity (change in physical make-up)
Cause:
dissolve (pass into a solution)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
melt; melt down; run (reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating)
cut (dissolve by breaking down the fat of)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 9
Meaning:
Make a break in
Example:
We interrupt the program for the following messages
Synonyms:
break up; cut off; disrupt; interrupt
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
break; break off; discontinue; stop (prevent completion)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
take off; take time off (take time off from work; stop working temporarily)
stop; stop over (interrupt a trip)
block; jam (interfere with or prevent the reception of signals)
come in; inject; interject; interpose; put in; throw in (to insert between other elements)
heckle (challenge aggressively)
burst in on; burst upon (spring suddenly)
barge in; break in; butt in; chime in; chisel in; cut in; put in (break into a conversation)
break; intermit; pause (cease an action temporarily)
put aside; put away (turn away from and put aside, perhaps temporarily)
break (interrupt the flow of current in)
punctuate (interrupt periodically)
cut; cut off (cease, stop)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 10
Meaning:
Release ice
Example:
The icebergs and glaciers calve
Synonyms:
break up; calve
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
divide; part; separate (come apart)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Sense 11
Meaning:
Attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example
Example:
Pick open the ice
Synonyms:
break up; pick
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
pierce (cut or make a way through)
"Break up" entails doing...:
chop; hack (cut with a hacking tool)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 12
Meaning:
Set or keep apart
Example:
sever a relationship
Synonyms:
break up; sever
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
disunite; divide; part; separate (force, take, or pull apart)
Verb group:
discerp; lop; sever (cut off from a whole)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 13
Meaning:
Break violently or noisily; smash
Synonyms:
break apart; break up; crash
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
disintegrate (break into parts or components or lose cohesion or unity)
Verb group:
crash (cause to crash)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Sense 14
Meaning:
Destroy the completeness of a set of related items
Example:
The book dealer would not break the set
Synonyms:
break; break up
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Verb group:
break (exchange for smaller units of money)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 15
Meaning:
Take apart into its constituent pieces
Synonyms:
break apart; break up; disassemble; dismantle; take apart
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
destroy; destruct (do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
strike (disassemble a temporary structure, such as a tent or a theatrical set)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 16
Meaning:
Suffer a nervous breakdown
Synonyms:
break up; collapse; crack; crack up; crock up
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
get; have; suffer; sustain (undergo (as of injuries and illnesses))
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sense 17
Meaning:
Come apart
Example:
the group broke up
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
part; separate; split (go one's own way; move apart)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
disband; dissolve (stop functioning or cohering as a unit)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
breakup (coming apart)
Sense 18
Meaning:
To cause to separate and go in different directions
Example:
She waved her hand and scattered the crowds
Synonyms:
break up; dispel; disperse; dissipate; scatter
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "break up" is one way to...):
divide; separate (make a division or separation)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
disband (cause to break up or cease to function)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sense 19
Meaning:
Discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
Example:
My friend and I split up
Synonyms:
break; break up; part; separate; split; split up
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break up"):
give the axe; give the bounce; give the gate (terminate a relationship abruptly)
break apart; disunify (break up or separate)
disassociate; disjoint; dissociate; disunite; divorce (part; cease or break association with)
break with (end a relationship)
divorce; split up (get a divorce; formally terminate a marriage)
break away; secede; splinter (withdraw from an organization or communion)
break; break away (interrupt a continued activity)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
breakup (the termination or disintegration of a relationship (between persons or nations))
breakup (coming apart)
Context examples:
Harrison was the Friar’s Oak blacksmith, and he had his nickname because he fought Tom Johnson when he held the English belt, and would most certainly have beaten him had the Bedfordshire magistrates not appeared to break up the fight.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A new study shows that sunlight transforms oil spills on the ocean surface more quickly and significantly than previously thought, limiting the effectiveness of chemical dispersants that break up floating oil.
(Sunlight reduces effectiveness of dispersants used to clean up oil spills, National Science Foundation)
Could he by a touch of his finger have instantly taken back his wife, there would have been a motive; but his coming would probably prolong rather than break up the party.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Eclipses tend to push events to one end of the spectrum or the other, so if you have been unhappy with your partner, you will courageously take the bull by the horns and break up.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
The party did not break up without Emma's being positively secured for the two first dances by the hero of the evening, nor without her overhearing Mr. Weston whisper to his wife, He has asked her, my dear.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
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