broke

Verb

• (v.) interrupt, break (terminate) "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty"
• (v.) break, separate, split up, fall apart, come apart (become separated into pieces or fragments) "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart"
• (v.) break (render inoperable or ineffective) "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart"
• (v.) break, bust (ruin completely) "He busted my radio"
• (v.) break (destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments) "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match"
• (v.) transgress, offend, infract, violate, go against, breach, break (act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises) "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law"; "break a promise"
• (v.) break, break out, break away (move away or escape suddenly) "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out-this prison is high security"
• (v.) break (scatter or part) "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour"
• (v.) break, burst, erupt (force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up) "break into tears"; "erupt in anger"
• (v.) break, break off, discontinue, stop (prevent completion) "stop the project"; "break off the negotiations"
• (v.) break in, break (enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act) "Someone broke in while I was on vacation"; "They broke into my car and stole my radio"; "who broke into my account last night"
• (v.) break in, break (make submissive, obedient, or useful) "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern"
• (v.) violate, go against, break (fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns) "This sentence violates the rules of syntax"
• (v.) better, break (surpass in excellence) "She bettered her own record"; "break a record"
• (v.) unwrap, disclose, let on, bring out, reveal, discover, expose, divulge, break, give away, let out (make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret) "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case"
• (v.) break (come into being) "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air"
• (v.) fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down (stop operating or functioning) "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident"
• (v.) break, break away (interrupt a continued activity) "She had broken with the traditional patterns"
• (v.) break (make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing) "The ranks broke"
• (v.) break (curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves) "The surf broke"
• (v.) dampen, damp, soften, weaken, break (lessen in force or effect) "soften a shock"; "break a fall"
• (v.) break (be broken in) "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress"
• (v.) break (come to an end) "The heat wave finally broke yesterday"
• (v.) break (vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity) "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas"
• (v.) break (cause to give up a habit) "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes"
• (v.) break (give up) "break cigarette smoking"
• (v.) break (come forth or begin from a state of latency) "The first winter storm broke over New York"
• (v.) break (happen or take place) "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months"
• (v.) break (cause the failure or ruin of) "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright"
• (v.) break (invalidate by judicial action) "The will was broken"
• (v.) separate, part, split up, split, break, break up (discontinue an association or relation; go different ways) "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up"
• (v.) demote, bump, relegate, break, kick downstairs (assign to a lower position; reduce in rank) "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sergeant"
• (v.) bankrupt, ruin, break, smash (reduce to bankruptcy) "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him"
• (v.) break (change directions suddenly)
• (v.) break (emerge from the surface of a body of water) "The whales broke"
• (v.) collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, break, founder (break down, literally or metaphorically) "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"
• (v.) break dance, break-dance, break (do a break dance) "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner"
• (v.) break (exchange for smaller units of money) "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy"
• (v.) break, break up (destroy the completeness of a set of related items) "The book dealer would not break the set"
• (v.) break (make the opening shot that scatters the balls)
• (v.) break (separate from a clinch, in boxing) "The referee broke the boxers"
• (v.) break, wear, wear out, bust, fall apart (go to pieces) "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely"
• (v.) break, break off, snap off (break a piece from a whole) "break a branch from a tree"
• (v.) break (become punctured or penetrated) "The skin broke"
• (v.) break (pierce or penetrate) "The blade broke her skin"
• (v.) break, get out, get around (be released or become known; of news) "News of her death broke in the morning"
• (v.) pause, intermit, break (cease an action temporarily) "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch"
• (v.) break (interrupt the flow of current in) "break a circuit"
• (v.) break (undergo breaking) "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages"
• (v.) break (find a flaw in) "break an alibi"; "break down a proof"
• (v.) break (find the solution or key to) "break the code"
• (v.) break (change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another) "Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children"
• (v.) break, recrudesce, develop (happen) "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time"
• (v.) crack, check, break (become fractured; break or crack on the surface only) "The glass cracked when it was heated"
• (v.) break (crack; of the male voice in puberty) "his voice is breaking-he should no longer sing in the choir"
• (v.) break (fall sharply) "stock prices broke"
• (v.) fracture, break (fracture a bone of) "I broke my foot while playing hockey"
• (v.) break (diminish or discontinue abruptly) "The patient's fever broke last night"
• (v.) break (weaken or destroy in spirit or body) "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death"

Adjective

• (adj.) broke, bust, skint, stone-broke, stony-broke (lacking funds) "`skint' is a British slang term"