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break has 100 distinct synonyms spread across 40 of its 75 senses. Each sense below keeps its own list, because a synonym belongs to a meaning and not to a word: swapping one sense's substitute into another sense's sentence is how a thesaurus makes writing worse. Its 3 recorded opposites are repair, keep, make.
Counts are distinct word forms across every sense. A synonym that appears under three senses is counted once here and shown three times below, under each sense it belongs to.
become separated into pieces or fragments
“The figurine broke”
render inoperable or ineffective
“You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!”
act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
“offend all laws of humanity”
move away or escape suddenly
“The horses broke from the stable”
scatter or part
“The clouds broke after the heavy downpour”
force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
“break into tears”
make submissive, obedient, or useful
“The horse was tough to break”
fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns
“This sentence violates the rules of syntax”
come into being
“light broke over the horizon”
interrupt a continued activity
“She had broken with the traditional patterns”
make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
“The ranks broke”
curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
“The surf broke”
be broken in
“If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress”
come to an end
“The heat wave finally broke yesterday”
vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
“The flat plain was broken by tall mesas”
give up
“break cigarette smoking”
come forth or begin from a state of latency
“The first winter storm broke over New York”
happen or take place
“Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months”
invalidate by judicial action
“The will was broken”
discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
“The business partners broke over a tax question”
emerge from the surface of a body of water
“The whales broke”
do a break dance
“Kids were break-dancing at the street corner”
exchange for smaller units of money
“I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy”
make the opening shot that scatters the balls
separate from a clinch, in boxing
“The referee broke the boxers”
pierce or penetrate
“The blade broke her skin”
be released or become known; of news
“News of her death broke in the morning”
interrupt the flow of current in
“break a circuit”
undergo breaking
“The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages”
find the solution or key to
“break the code”
change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another
“Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children”
crack; of the male voice in puberty
“his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir”
diminish or discontinue abruptly
“The patient's fever broke last night”
weaken or destroy in spirit or body
“His resistance was broken”
some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
“the telephone is an annoying interruption”
2 of the 75 recorded senses carry no synonym, antonym or related term, so they are not shown above. Every sense, with its definition and examples, is on the full entry for break.
Synonyms, antonyms and the broader and narrower relations for break come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Full sources and licences.
an unexpected piece of good luck
“he finally got his big break”
(geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other
“they built it right over a geological fault”
a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)
“they hoped to avoid a break in relations”
a pause from doing something (as work)
“we took a 10-minute break”
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
the occurrence of breaking
“the break in the dam threatened the valley”
an abrupt change in the tone or register of the voice (as at puberty or due to emotion)
“then there was a break in her voice”
the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool
(tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving
“he was up two breaks in the second set”
an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
“it was presented without commercial breaks”
a sudden dash
“he made a break for the open door”
any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare
“the break in the eighth frame cost him the match”