7 definitions found From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]: broke adjective: lacking funds; "'skint' is a British slang term" [syn: {bust}, {skint}, {stone-broke}, {stony-broke}] From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]: break noun 1: some abrupt occurrence that interrupts; "the telephone is an annoying interruption"; "there was a break in the action when a player was hurt" [syn: {interruption}] 2: an unexpected piece of good luck; "he finally got his big break" [syn: {good luck}, {happy chance}] 3: (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" [syn: {fault}, {geological fault}, {shift}, {fracture}] 4: a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions); "they hoped to avoid a break in relations" [syn: {rupture}, {breach}, {severance}, {rift}, {falling out}] 5: a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate" [syn: {respite}, {recess}, {time out}] 6: the act of breaking something; "the breakage was unavoidable" [syn: {breakage}, {breaking}] 7: a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something [syn: {pause}, {intermission}, {interruption}, {suspension}] 8: breaking of hard tissue such as bone; "it was a nasty fracture"; "the break seems to have been caused by a fall" [syn: {fracture}] 9: the occurrence of breaking; "the break in the dam threatened the valley" 10: the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool 11: (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving; "he was up two breaks in the second set" [syn: {break of serve}] 12: an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity; "it was presented without commercial breaks" [syn: {interruption}, {disruption}, {gap}] 13: a sudden dash; "he made a break for the open door" 14: any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare; "the break in the eighth frame cost him the match" [syn: {open frame}] 15: an escape from jail; "the breakout was carefully planned" [syn: {breakout}, {jailbreak}, {gaolbreak}, {prisonbreak}, {prison-breaking}] verb 1: terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty" [syn: {interrupt}] 2: become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart" [syn: {separate}, {split up}, {fall apart}, {come apart}] 3: destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments; "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match" 4: render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!" 5: ruin completely; "He busted my radio!" [syn: {bust}] [ant: {repair}] 6: act in disregard of laws and rules; "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law" [syn: {transgress}, {offend}, {infract}, {violate}, {go against}, {breach}] 7: move away or escape suddenly; "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out--this prison is high security" [syn: {break out}, {break away}] 8: scatter or part; "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour" 9: force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger" [syn: {burst}, {erupt}] 10: prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the negociations" [syn: {break off}, {discontinue}, {stop}] 11: enter someone's 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!" [syn: {break in}] 12: make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern" [syn: {break in}] 13: fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax" [syn: {violate}, {go against}] [ant: {conform to}] 14: surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break a record" [syn: {better}] 15: 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" [syn: {disclose}, {let on}, {bring out}, {reveal}, {discover}, {expose}, {divulge}, {impart}, {give away}, {let out}] 16: come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air" 17: 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" [syn: {fail}, {go bad}, {give way}, {die}, {give out}, {conk out}, {go}, {break down}] 18: interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns" [syn: {break away}] 19: make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke" 20: curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The surf broke" 21: lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall" [syn: {dampen}, {damp}, {soften}, {weaken}] 22: be broken in; "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress" 23: come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday" 24: vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas" 25: cause to give up a habit; "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes" 26: give up; "break cigarette smoking" 27: come forth or begin from a state of latency; "The first winter storm broke over New York" 28: happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months" 29: cause the failure or ruin of; "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright" [ant: {make}] 30: invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken" 31: 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" [syn: {separate}, {part}, {split up}, {split}, {break up}] 32: assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sargeant" [syn: {demote}, {bump}, {relegate}, {kick downstairs}] [ant: {promote}] 33: reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him" [syn: {bankrupt}, {ruin}, {smash}] 34: change directions suddenly 35: emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales broke" 36: 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" [syn: {collapse}, {fall in}, {cave in}, {give}, {give way}, {founder}] 37: do a break dance; "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner" [syn: {break dance}, {break-dance}] 38: exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy" 39: destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set" [syn: {break up}] 40: make the opening shot that scatters the balls 41: separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers" 42: go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely" [syn: {wear}, {wear out}, {bust}, {fall apart}] 43: break a piece from a whole; "break a branch from a tree" [syn: {break off}, {snap off}] 44: become punctured or penetrated; "The skin broke" 45: pierce or penetrate; "The blade broke her skin" 46: be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning" [syn: {get out}, {get around}] 47: cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch" [syn: {pause}, {intermit}] 48: interrupt the flow of current in; "break a circuit" 49: undergo breaking; "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages" 50: find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof" 51: find the solution or key to; "break the code" 52: change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another; "Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children" 53: happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time" [syn: {recrudesce}, {develop}] 54: become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated" [syn: {crack}, {check}] 55: of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir" 56: fall sharply; "stock prices broke" 57: fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey" [syn: {fracture}] 58: diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient's fever broke last night" 59: weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death" [also: {broken}, {broke}] From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]: broke See {break} From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]: Broke \Broke\, verb (used without an object) [See {Broker}, and cf. {Brook}.] 1. To transact business for another. [R.] --Brome. 2. To act as procurer in love matters; to pimp. [Obs.] We do want a certain necessary woman to broke between them, Cupid said. --Fanshawe. And brokes with all that can in such a suit Corrupt the tender honor of a maid. --Shak. From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]: Broke \Broke\ (br[=o]k), imp. & p. p. of {Break}. From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]: Break \Break\ (br[=a]k), verb (used with an object) [imp. {broke} (br[=o]k), (Obs. {Brake}); p. p. {Broken} (br[=o]"k'n), (Obs. {Broke}); p. pr. & vb. n. {Breaking}.] [OE. breken, AS. brecan; akin to OS. brekan, D. breken, OHG. brehhan, G. brechen, Icel. braka to creak, Sw. braka, br["a]kka to crack, Dan. br[ae]kke to break, Goth. brikan to break, L. frangere. Cf. {Bray} to pound, {Breach}, {Fragile}.] 1. 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. --Shak. 2. To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods. 3. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate. Katharine, break thy mind to me. --Shak. 4. To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise. Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . . To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray. --Milton 5. 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. Go, release them, Ariel; My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore. --Shak. 6. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set. 7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares. 8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments. The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments with which he had solaced the hours of captivity. --Prescott. 9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill. 10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax. 11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind. An old man, broken with the storms of state. --Shak. 12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow. I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall. --Dryden. 13. 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. 14. To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle. ''To break a colt.'' --Spenser. Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute? --Shak. 15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin. With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks, Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks. --Dryden. 16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss. I see a great officer broken. --Swift. Note: With prepositions or adverbs: {To break down}. (a) To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's strength; to break down opposition. (b) To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to break down a door or wall. {To break in}. (a) To force in; as, to break in a door. (b) To train; to discipline; as, a horse well broken in. {To break of}, to rid of; to cause to abandon; as, to break one of a habit. {To break off}. (a) To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig. (b) To stop suddenly; to abandon. ''Break off thy sins by righteousness.'' --Dan. iv. 27. {To break open}, to open by breaking. ''Open the door, or I will break it open.'' --Shak. {To break out}, to take or force out by breaking; as, to break out a pane of glass. {To break out a cargo}, to unstow a cargo, so as to unload it easily. {To break through}. (a) To make an opening through, as, as by violence or the force of gravity; to pass violently through; as, to break through the enemy's lines; to break through the ice. (b) To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony. {To break up}. (a) To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow ground). ''Break up this capon.'' --Shak. ''Break up your fallow ground.'' --Jer. iv. 3. (b) To dissolve; to put an end to. ''Break up the court.'' --Shak. {To break} (one) {all up}, to unsettle or disconcert completely; to upset. [Colloq.] Note: With an immediate object: {To break the back}. (a) To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally. (b) To get through the worst part of; as, to break the back of a difficult undertaking. {To break bulk}, to destroy the entirety of a load by removing a portion of it; to begin to unload; also, to transfer in detail, as from boats to cars. {To break a code} to discover a method to convert coded messages into the original understandable text. {To break cover}, to burst forth from a protecting concealment, as game when hunted. {To break a deer} or {To break a stag}, to cut it up and apportion the parts among those entitled to a share. {To break fast}, to partake of food after abstinence. See {Breakfast}. {To break ground}. (a) To open the earth as for planting; to commence excavation, as for building, siege operations, and the like; as, to break ground for a foundation, a canal, or a railroad. (b) Fig.: To begin to execute any plan. (c) (Naut.) To release the anchor from the bottom. {To break the heart}, to crush or overwhelm (one) with grief. {To break a house} (Law), to remove or set aside with violence and a felonious intent any part of a house or of the fastenings provided to secure it. {To break the ice}, to get through first difficulties; to overcome obstacles and make a beginning; to introduce a subject. {To break jail}, to escape from confinement in jail, usually by forcible means. {To break a jest}, to utter a jest. ''Patroclus . . . the livelong day breaks scurril jests.'' --Shak. {To break joints}, to lay or arrange bricks, shingles, etc., so that the joints in one course shall not coincide with those in the preceding course. {To break a lance}, to engage in a tilt or contest. {To break the neck}, to dislocate the joints of the neck. {To break no squares}, to create no trouble. [Obs.] {To break a path}, {road}, etc., to open a way through obstacles by force or labor. {To break upon a wheel}, to execute or torture, as a criminal by stretching him upon a wheel, and breaking his limbs with an iron bar; -- a mode of punishment formerly employed in some countries. {To break wind}, to give vent to wind from the anus. Syn: To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate; infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate. From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]: 30 Moby Thesaurus words for "broke":