Part 802

This radiant from the circling crowd he broke. Dryden.

-- To break into, to enter by breaking; as, to break into a house. -- To break in upon, to enter or approach violently or unexpectedly. "This, this is he; softly awhile; let us not break in upon him." Milton. -- To break loose. (a) To extricate one's self forcibly. "Who would not, finding way, break loose from hell?" Milton. (b) To cast off restraint, as of morals or propriety. -- To break off. (a) To become separated by rupture, or with suddenness and violence. (b) To desist or cease suddenly. "Nay, forward, old man; do not break off so." Shak. -- To break off from, to desist from; to abandon, as a habit. -- To break out. (a) To burst forth; to escape from restraint; to appear suddenly, as a fire or an epidemic. "For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and stream in the desert." Isa. xxxv. 6 (b) To show itself in cutaneous eruptions; -- said of a disease. (c) To have a rash or eruption on the akin; -- said of a patient. -- To break over, to overflow; to go beyond limits. -- To break up. (a) To become separated into parts or fragments; as, the ice break up in the rivers; the wreck will break up in the next storm. (b) To disperse. "The company breaks up." I. Watts. -- To break upon, to discover itself suddenly to; to dawn upon. -- To break with. (a) To fall out; to sever one's relations with; to part friendship. "It can not be the Volsces dare break with us." Shak. "If she did not intend to marry Clive, she should have broken with him altogether." Thackeray. (b) To come to an explanation; to enter into conference; to speak. [Obs.] "I will break with her and with her father." Shak.

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Break ( [1913 Webster]), n. [See Break, v. t., and cf. Brake (the instrument), Breach, Brack a crack.] 1. An opening made by fracture or disruption.

2. An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship. Specifically: (a) (Arch.) A projection or recess from the face of a building. (b) (Elec.) An opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current.

3. An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.

4. An interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc.

All modern trash is Set forth with numerous breaks and dashes. Swift.

5. The first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.

6. A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.

7. A device for checking motion, or for measuring friction. See Brake, n. 9 & 10.

8. (Teleg.) See Commutator.

Break"a*ble (&?;), a. Capable of being broken.

Break"age (&?;), n. 1. The act of breaking; a break; a breaking; also, articles broken.

2. An allowance or compensation for things broken accidentally, as in transportation or use.

Break"bone` fe`ver (&?;). (Med.) See Dengue.

Break"-cir`cuit (&?;), n. (Elec.) A key or other device for breaking an electrical circuit.

Break"down` (&?;), n. 1. The act or result of breaking down, as of a carriage; downfall.

2. (a) A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of persons or pairs in succession, as among the colored people of the Southern United States, and so called, perhaps, because the exercise is continued until most of those who take part in it break down. (b) Any rude, noisy dance performed by shuffling the feet, usually by one person at a time. [U.S.]

Don't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are going to have a breakdown to wind up with. New Eng. Tales.

Break"er (&?;), n. 1. One who, or that which, breaks.

I'll be no breaker of the law. Shak.

2. Specifically: A machine for breaking rocks, or for breaking coal at the mines; also, the building in which such a machine is placed.

3. (Naut.) A small water cask. Totten.

4. A wave breaking into foam against the shore, or against a sand bank, or a rock or reef near the surface.

The breakers were right beneath her bows. Longfellow.

Break"fast (&?;), n. [Break + fast.] 1. The first meal in the day, or that which is eaten at the first meal.

A sorry breakfast for my lord protector. Shak.