Break vs. Hold

Breakverb

To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly.

‘If the vase falls to the floor, it might break.’; ‘In order to tend to the accident victim, he will break the window of the car.’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To grasp or grip.

‘Hold the pencil like this.’;

Breakverb

To crack or fracture (bone) under a physical strain.

‘His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest.’; ‘She broke her neck.’; ‘He slipped on the ice and broke his leg.’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To contain or store.

‘This package holds six bottles.’;

Breakverb

(transitive) To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.

‘Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me?’; ‘The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers.’;

Holdverb

(heading) To maintain or keep to a position or state.

Breakverb

(transitive) To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of.

‘Her child's death broke Angela.’; ‘Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war.’; ‘The interrogator hoped to break her to get her testimony against her accomplices.’; ‘You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden.’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To have and keep possession of something.

‘Hold my coat for me.’; ‘The general ordered the colonel to hold his position at all costs.’;

Breakverb

(intransitive) To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.

‘My heart is breaking.’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To reserve.

‘Hold a table for us at 7:00.’;

Breakverb

(transitive) To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.

‘I've got to break this habit I have of biting my nails.’; ‘to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey’; ‘I had won four games in a row, but now you've broken my streak of luck.’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To cause to wait or delay.

‘Hold the elevator.’;

Breakverb

(transitive) To ruin financially.

‘The recession broke some small businesses.’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To detain.

‘Hold the suspect in this cell.’;

Breakverb

(transitive) To violate, to not adhere to.

‘When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law.’; ‘He broke his vows by cheating on his wife.’; ‘break one's word’; ‘Time travel would break the laws of physics.’;

Holdverb

(intransitive) To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).

‘to hold true;’; ‘The proposition holds.’;

Breakverb

To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, in terms of temperature.

‘Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over.’;

Holdverb

To keep oneself in a particular state.

‘to hold firm;’; ‘to hold opinions’;

Breakverb

To end.

‘The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek.’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.

Breakverb

To begin; to end.

‘We ran to find shelter before the storm broke.’; ‘Around midday the storm broke, and the afternoon was calm and sunny.’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To bear, carry, or manage.

‘He holds himself proudly erect.’; ‘Hold your head high.’;

Breakverb

To arrive.

‘Morning has broken.’; ‘The day broke crisp and clear.’;

Holdverb

Not to move; to halt; to stop.

Breakverb

To render (a game) unchallenging by altering its rules or exploiting loopholes or weaknesses in them in a way that gives a player an unfair advantage.

‘Changing the rules to let white have three extra queens would break chess.’; ‘I broke the RPG by training every member of my party to cast fireballs as well as use swords.’;

Holdverb

(intransitive) Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.

Breakverb

To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.

‘On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke.’; ‘Did you two break the trolley by racing with it?’;

Holdverb

To remain continent; to control an excretory bodily function.

‘to hold one's bladder;’; ‘to hold one's breath’;

Breakverb

To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression.

‘Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions.’;

Holdverb

(heading) To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.

Breakverb

(transitive) To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.

‘break a seal’;

Holdverb

(transitive) To maintain, to consider, to opine.

Breakverb

(specifically) To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible.

Holdverb

(transitive) To bind (someone) to a consequence of his or her actions.

‘He was held responsible for the actions of those under his command.’; ‘I'll hold him to that promise.’;

Breakverb

(specifically) To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination, or the like.

Holdverb

To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.

Breakverb

(transitive) To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.

‘The cavalry were not able to break the British squares.’;

Holdverb

To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.

Breakverb

To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.

Holdverb

(archaic) To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back.

Breakverb

(intransitive) To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.

Holdverb

To win one's own service game.

Breakverb

(intransitive) To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily.

‘Let's break for lunch.’;

Holdverb

To take place, to occur.

Breakverb

(transitive) To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately) hit something else beneath.

‘He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall.’;

Holdverb

To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).

‘Elections will be held on the first Sunday of next month.’;

Breakverb

To disclose or make known an item of news, etc.

‘The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous.’; ‘I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back.’; ‘In the latest breaking news...’; ‘When news of their divorce broke, ...’;

Holdverb

(archaic) To derive right or title.

Breakverb

To become audible suddenly.

Holdnoun

A grasp or grip.

‘Keep a firm hold on the handlebars.’;

Breakverb

(transitive) To change a steady state abruptly.

‘His coughing broke the silence.’; ‘His turning on the lights broke the enchantment.’; ‘With the mood broken, what we had been doing seemed pretty silly.’;

Holdnoun

A place where animals are held for safety

Breakverb

To suddenly become.

‘Things began breaking bad for him when his parents died.’; ‘The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly.’;

Holdnoun

An order that something is to be reserved or delayed, limiting or preventing how it can be dealt with.

‘Senator X placed a hold on the bill, then went to the library and placed a hold on a book.’;

Breakverb

(intransitive) Of a male voice, to become deeper at puberty.

Holdnoun

Something reserved or kept.

‘We have a hold here for you.’;

Breakverb

(intransitive) Of a voice, to alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack.

‘His voice breaks when he gets emotional.’;

Holdnoun

Power over someone or something.

Breakverb

(transitive) To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (a record), setting a new record.

‘He broke the men's 100-meter record.’; ‘I can't believe she broke 3 under par!’; ‘The policeman broke sixty on a residential street in his hurry to catch the thief.’;

Holdnoun

The ability to persist.

Breakverb

:

Holdnoun

The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.

Breakverb

To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver.

‘He needs to break serve to win the match.’;

Holdnoun

(wrestling) A position or grip used to control the opponent.

‘He got him in a tight hold and pinned him to the mat.’;

Breakverb

To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement.

‘Is it your or my turn to break?’;

Holdnoun

(exercise) An exercise involving holding a position for a set time

Breakverb

To remove one of the two men on (a point).

Holdnoun

(gambling) The percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold.

‘The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume.’;

Breakverb

To demote, to reduce the military rank of.

Holdnoun

(gambling) The wager amount, the total hold.

‘As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015’;

Breakverb

(transitive) To end (a connection), to disconnect.

‘The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch.’; ‘The referee broke the boxers' clinch.’; ‘I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back.’;

Holdnoun

(tennis) An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.

Breakverb

To demulsify.

Holdnoun

The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.

Breakverb

To counter-attack

Holdnoun

A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.

Breakverb

To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

Holdnoun

A pause facility.

Breakverb

(intransitive) To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.

Holdnoun

The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.

Breakverb

To fail in business; to become bankrupt.

Holdnoun

(baseball) A statistic awarded to a relief pitcher who is not still pitching at the end of the game and who records at least one out and maintains a lead for his team.

Breakverb

(transitive) To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.

‘to break flax’;

Holdnoun

The cargo area of a ship or aircraft, (often cargo hold).

‘Put that in the hold.’;

Breakverb

(transitive) To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.

Holdadjective

(obsolete) Gracious; friendly; faithful; true.

Breakverb

(intransitive) To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait.

‘to break into a run or gallop’;

Holdnoun

The whole interior portion of a vessel below the lower deck, in which the cargo is stowed.

Breakverb

To fall out; to terminate friendship.

Holdnoun

The act of holding, as in or with the hands or arms; the manner of holding, whether firm or loose; seizure; grasp; clasp; grip; possession; - often used with the verbs take and lay.

‘Ne have I not twelve pence within mine hold.’; ‘Thou should'st lay hold upon him.’; ‘My soul took hold on thee.’; ‘Take fast hold of instruction.’;

Breaknoun

An instance of breaking something into two or more pieces.

‘The femur has a clean break and so should heal easily.’;

Holdnoun

The authority or ground to take or keep; claim.

‘The law hath yet another hold on you.’;

Breaknoun

A physical space that opens up in something or between two things.

‘The sun came out in a break in the clouds.’; ‘He waited minutes for a break in the traffic to cross the highway.’;

Holdnoun

Binding power and influence.

‘Fear . . . by which God and his laws take the surest hold of.’;

Breaknoun

A rest or pause, usually from work.

‘Let’s take a five-minute break.’;

Holdnoun

Something that may be grasped; means of support.

‘If a man be upon an high place without rails or good hold, he is ready to fall.’;

Breaknoun

A short holiday.

‘a weekend break on the Isle of Wight’;

Holdnoun

A place of confinement; a prison; confinement; custody; guard.

‘They . . . put them in hold unto the next day.’; ‘King Richard, he is in the mighty holdOf Bolingbroke.’;

Breaknoun

A temporary split with a romantic partner.

‘I think we need a break.’;

Holdnoun

A place of security; a fortified place; a fort; a castle; - often called a stronghold.

‘New comers in an ancient hold’;

Breaknoun

An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game.

Holdnoun

A character [thus ] placed over or under a note or rest, and indicating that it is to be prolonged; - called also pause, and corona.

Breaknoun

A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention.

‘big break’; ‘lucky break, bad break’;

Holdverb

To cause to remain in a given situation, position, or relation, within certain limits, or the like; to prevent from falling or escaping; to sustain; to restrain; to keep in the grasp; to retain.

‘The loops held one curtain to another.’; ‘Thy right hand shall hold me.’; ‘They all hold swords, being expert in war.’; ‘In vain he seeks, that having can not hold.’; ‘France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, . . . A fasting tiger safer by the tooth,Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold.’;

Breaknoun

The beginning (of the morning).

‘at the break of day’;

Holdverb

To retain in one's keeping; to maintain possession of, or authority over; not to give up or relinquish; to keep; to defend.

‘We mean to hold what anciently we claimOf deity or empire.’;

Breaknoun

An act of escaping.

‘make a break for it, for the door’; ‘It was a clean break.’; ‘prison break’;

Holdverb

To have; to possess; to be in possession of; to occupy; to derive title to; as, to hold office.

‘This noble merchant held a noble house.’; ‘Of him to hold his seigniory for a yearly tribute.’; ‘And now the strand, and now the plain, they held.’;

Breaknoun

The separation between lines or paragraphs of a written text.

Holdverb

To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.

‘We can not hold mortality's strong hand.’; ‘Death! what do'st? O, hold thy blow.’; ‘He had not sufficient judgment and self-command to hold his tongue.’;

Breaknoun

A change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.

Holdverb

To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.

‘Hold not thy peace, and be not still.’; ‘Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost,Shall hold their course.’;

Breaknoun

:

Holdverb

To prosecute, have, take, or join in, as something which is the result of united action; as to, hold a meeting, a festival, a session, etc.; hence, to direct and bring about officially; to conduct or preside at; as, the general held a council of war; a judge holds a court; a clergyman holds a service.

‘I would hold more talk with thee.’;

Breaknoun

(tennis) A game won by the receiving player(s).

Holdverb

To receive and retain; to contain as a vessel; as, this pail holds milk; hence, to be able to receive and retain; to have capacity or containing power for.

‘Broken cisterns that can hold no water.’; ‘One sees more devils than vast hell can hold.’;

Breaknoun

The first shot in a game of billiards

Holdverb

To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.

‘Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.’; ‘But still he held his purpose to depart.’;

Breaknoun

(snooker) The number of points scored by one player in one visit to the table

Holdverb

To consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think; to judge.

‘I hold him but a fool.’; ‘I shall never hold that man my friend.’; ‘The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.’;

Breaknoun

(soccer) The counter-attack

Holdverb

To bear, carry, or manage; as he holds himself erect; he holds his head high.

‘Let him hold his fingers thus.’; ‘O, fie! to receive favors, return falsehoods,And hold a lady in hand.’;

Breaknoun

(surfing) A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).

‘The final break in the Greenmount area is Kirra Point.’;

Holdverb

In general, to keep one's self in a given position or condition; to remain fixed. Hence:

Breaknoun

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

Holdverb

Not to move; to halt; to stop; - mostly in the imperative.

‘And damned be him that first cries, "Hold, enough!"’;

Breaknoun

(equitation) A sharp bit or snaffle.

Holdverb

Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.

‘Our force by land hath nobly held.’;

Breaknoun

(music) A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.

‘The fiddle break was amazing; it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note.’;

Holdverb

Not to fail or be found wanting; to continue; to last; to endure a test or trial; to abide; to persist.

‘While our obedience holds.’; ‘The rule holds in land as all other commodities.’;

Breaknoun

(music) The point in the musical scale at which a woodwind instrument is designed to overblow, that is, to move from its lower to its upper register.

‘Crossing the break smoothly is one of the first lessons the young clarinettist needs to master.’;

Holdverb

Not to fall away, desert, or prove recreant; to remain attached; to cleave; - often with with, to, or for.

‘He will hold to the one and despise the other.’;

Breaknoun

(music) A section of extended repetition of the percussion break to a song, created by a hip-hop DJ as rhythmic dance music.

Holdverb

To restrain one's self; to refrain.

‘His dauntless heart would fain have heldFrom weeping, but his eyes rebelled.’;

Breakverb

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.

Holdverb

To derive right or title; - generally with of.

‘My crown is absolute, and holds of none.’; ‘His imagination holds immediately from nature.’;

Breakverb

To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.

Holdnoun

the act of grasping;

‘he released his clasp on my arm’; ‘he has a strong grip for an old man’; ‘she kept a firm hold on the railing’;

Breakverb

To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

‘Katharine, break thy mind to me.’;

Holdnoun

understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something;

‘he has a good grasp of accounting practices’;

Breakverb

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.’;

Holdnoun

power by which something or someone is affected or dominated;

‘he has a hold over them’;

Breakverb

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.’;

Holdnoun

time during which some action is awaited;

‘instant replay caused too long a delay’; ‘he ordered a hold in the action’;

Breakverb

To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.

Holdnoun

a state of being confined (usually for a short time);

‘his detention was politically motivated’; ‘the prisoner is on hold’; ‘he is in the custody of police’;

Breakverb

To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.

Holdnoun

a stronghold

Breakverb

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.’;

Holdnoun

a cell in a jail or prison

Breakverb

To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.

Holdnoun

the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it;

‘he grabbed the hammer by the handle’; ‘it was an old briefcase but it still had a good grip’;

Breakverb

To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.

Holdnoun

the space in a ship or aircraft for storing cargo

Breakverb

To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.

‘An old man, broken with the storms of state.’;

Holdverb

organize or be responsible for;

‘hold a reception’; ‘have, throw, or make a party’; ‘give a course’;

Breakverb

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.’;

Holdverb

keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g.,

‘keep clean’; ‘hold in place’; ‘She always held herself as a lady’; ‘The students keep me on my toes’;

Breakverb

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.

Holdverb

have or hold in one's hands or grip;

‘Hold this bowl for a moment, please’; ‘A crazy idea took hold of him’;

Breakverb

To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle.

‘Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?’;

Holdverb

to close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement;

‘This holds the local until the express passengers change trains’; ‘About a dozen animals were held inside the stockade’; ‘The illegal immigrants were held at a detention center’; ‘The terrorists held the journalists for ransom’;

Breakverb

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.’;

Holdverb

have rightfully; of rights, titles, and offices;

‘She bears the title of Duchess’; ‘He held the governorship for almost a decade’;

Breakverb

To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.

‘I see a great officer broken.’;

Holdverb

have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense;

‘She has $1,000 in the bank’; ‘He has got two beautiful daughters’; ‘She holds a Master's degree from Harvard’;

Breakverb

To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.

Holdverb

keep in mind or convey as a conviction or view;

‘take for granted’; ‘view as important’; ‘hold these truths to be self-evident’; ‘I hold him personally responsible’;

Breakverb

To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.

‘Else the bottle break, and the wine runneth out.’;

Holdverb

contain or hold; have within;

‘The jar carries wine’; ‘The canteen holds fresh water’; ‘This can contains water’;

Breakverb

To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn.

‘The day begins to break, and night is fled.’; ‘And from the turf a fountain broke,and gurgled at our feet.’;

Holdverb

lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits;

‘moderate your alcohol intake’; ‘hold your tongue’; ‘hold your temper’; ‘control your anger’;

Breakverb

To burst forth violently, as a storm.

‘The clouds are still above; and, while I speak,A second deluge o'er our head may break.’;

Holdverb

remain in a certain state, position, or condition;

‘The weather held’; ‘They held on the road and kept marching’;

Breakverb

To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking.

‘At length the darkness begins to break.’;

Holdverb

maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings);

‘bear a grudge’; ‘entertain interesting notions’; ‘harbor a resentment’;

Breakverb

To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.

‘See how the dean begins to break;Poor gentleman! he droops apace.’;

Holdverb

assert or affirm;

‘Rousseau's philosophy holds that people are inherently good’;

Breakverb

To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking.

Holdverb

remain committed to;

‘I hold to these ideas’;

Breakverb

To fall in business; to become bankrupt.

‘He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes break, and come to poverty.’;

Holdverb

secure and keep for possible future use or application;

‘The landlord retained the security deposit’; ‘I reserve the right to disagree’;

Breakverb

To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop.

Holdverb

be the physical support of; carry the weight of;

‘The beam holds up the roof’; ‘He supported me with one hand while I balanced on the beam’; ‘What's holding that mirror?’;

Breakverb

To fail in musical quality; as, a singer's voice breaks when it is strained beyond its compass and a tone or note is not completed, but degenerates into an unmusical sound instead. Also, to change in tone, as a boy's voice at puberty.

Holdverb

hold the attention of;

‘The soprano held the audience’; ‘This story held our interest’; ‘She can hold an audience spellbound’;

Breakverb

To fall out; to terminate friendship.

‘To break upon the score of danger or expense is to be mean and narrow-spirited.’; ‘Fear me not, man; I will not break away.’; ‘He had broken down almost at the outset.’; ‘This radiant from the circling crowd he broke.’;

Holdverb

keep from exhaling or expelling;

‘hold your breath’;

Breaknoun

An opening made by fracture or disruption.

Holdverb

support or hold in a certain manner;

‘She holds her head high’; ‘He carried himself upright’;

Breaknoun

An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship.

Holdverb

have room for; hold without crowding;

‘This hotel can accommodate 250 guests’; ‘The theater admits 300 people’; ‘The auditorium can't hold more than 500 people’;

Breaknoun

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

Holdverb

be capable of holding or containing;

‘This box won't take all the items’; ‘The flask holds one gallon’;

Breaknoun

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

‘All modern trash isSet forth with numerous breaks and dashes.’;

Holdverb

be valid, applicable, or true;

‘This theory still holds’;

Breaknoun

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

Holdverb

take and maintain control over, often by violent means;

‘The dissatisfied students held the President's office for almost a week’;

Breaknoun

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

Holdverb

protect against a challenge or attack;

‘Hold that position behind the trees!’; ‘Hold the bridge against the enemy's attacks’;

Breaknoun

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

Holdverb

declare to be;

‘She was declared incompetent’; ‘judge held that the defendant was innocent’;

Breaknoun

See Commutator.

Holdverb

have as a major characteristic;

‘The novel holds many surprises’; ‘The book holds in store much valuable advise’;

Breaknoun

some abrupt occurrence that interrupts;

‘the telephone is an annoying interruption’; ‘there was a break in the action when a player was hurt’;

Holdverb

cause to stop;

‘Halt the engines’; ‘Arrest the progress’; ‘halt the presses’;

Breaknoun

an unexpected piece of good luck;

‘he finally got his big break’;

Holdverb

bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted;

‘He's held by a contract’; ‘I'll hold you by your promise’;

Breaknoun

(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’;

Holdverb

cover as for protection against noise or smell;

‘She held her ears when the jackhammer started to operate’; ‘hold one's nose’;

Breaknoun

a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions);

‘they hoped to avoid a break in relations’;

Holdverb

drink alcohol without showing ill effects;

‘He can hold his liquor’; ‘he had drunk more than he could carry’;

Breaknoun

a pause from doing something (as work);

‘we took a 10-minute break’; ‘he took time out to recuperate’;

Holdverb

be pertinent or relevant or applicable;

‘The same laws apply to you!’; ‘This theory holds for all irrational numbers’; ‘The same rules go for everyone’;

Breaknoun

the act of breaking something;

‘the breakage was unavoidable’;

Holdverb

arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance;

‘reserve me a seat on a flight’; ‘The agent booked tickets to the show for the whole family’; ‘please hold a table at Maxim's’;

Breaknoun

a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something

Holdverb

resist or confront with resistance;

‘The politician defied public opinion’; ‘The new material withstands even the greatest wear and tear’; ‘The bridge held’;

Breaknoun

breaking of hard tissue such as bone;

‘it was a nasty fracture’; ‘the break seems to have been caused by a fall’;

Holdverb

keep from departing;

‘Hold the taxi’; ‘Hold the horse’;

Breaknoun

the occurrence of breaking;

‘the break in the dam threatened the valley’;

Holdverb

stop dealing with;

‘hold all calls to the President's office while he is in a meeting’;

Breaknoun

the opening shot that scatters the balls in billiards or pool

Holdverb

aim, point, or direct;

‘Hold the fire extinguisher directly on the flames’;

Breaknoun

(tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving;

‘he was up two breaks in the second set’;

Holdverb

be in accord; be in agreement;

‘We agreed on the terms of the settlement’; ‘I can't agree with you!’; ‘I hold with those who say life is sacred’; ‘Both philosophers concord on this point’;

Breaknoun

an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity;

‘it was presented without commercial breaks’;

Breaknoun

a sudden dash;

‘he made a break for the open door’;

Breaknoun

any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare;

‘the break in the eighth frame cost him the match’;

Breaknoun

an escape from jail;

‘the breakout was carefully planned’;

Breakverb

terminate;

‘She interrupted her pregnancy’; ‘break a lucky streak’; ‘break the cycle of poverty’;

Breakverb

become separated into pieces or fragments;

‘The figurine broke’; ‘The freshly baked loaf fell apart’;

Breakverb

destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments;

‘He broke the glass plate’; ‘She broke the match’;

Breakverb

render inoperable or ineffective;

‘You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!’;

Breakverb

ruin completely;

‘He busted my radio!’;

Breakverb

act in disregard of laws and rules;

‘offend all laws of humanity’; ‘violate the basic laws or human civilization’; ‘break a law’;

Breakverb

move away or escape suddenly;

‘The horses broke from the stable’; ‘Three inmates broke jail’; ‘Nobody can break out--this prison is high security’;

Breakverb

scatter or part;

‘The clouds broke after the heavy downpour’;

Breakverb

force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up;

‘break into tears’; ‘erupt in anger’;

Breakverb

prevent completion;

‘stop the project’; ‘break off the negociations’;

Breakverb

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!’;

Breakverb

make submissive, obedient, or useful;

‘The horse was tough to break’; ‘I broke in the new intern’;

Breakverb

fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns;

‘This sentence violates the rules of syntax’;

Breakverb

surpass in excellence;

‘She bettered her own record’; ‘break a record’;

Breakverb

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’;

Breakverb

come into being;

‘light broke over the horizon’; ‘Voices broke in the air’;

Breakverb

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’;

Breakverb

interrupt a continued activity;

‘She had broken with the traditional patterns’;

Breakverb

make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing;

‘The ranks broke’;

Breakverb

curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves;

‘The surf broke’;

Breakverb

lessen in force or effect;

‘soften a shock’; ‘break a fall’;

Breakverb

be broken in;

‘If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress’;

Breakverb

come to an end;

‘The heat wave finally broke yesterday’;

Breakverb

vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity;

‘The flat plain was broken by tall mesas’;

Breakverb

cause to give up a habit;

‘She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes’;

Breakverb

give up;

‘break cigarette smoking’;

Breakverb

come forth or begin from a state of latency;

‘The first winter storm broke over New York’;

Breakverb

happen or take place;

‘Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months’;

Breakverb

cause the failure or ruin of;

‘His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage’; ‘This play will either make or break the playwright’;

Breakverb

invalidate by judicial action;

‘The will was broken’;

Breakverb

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’;

Breakverb

assign to a lower position; reduce in rank;

‘She was demoted because she always speaks up’; ‘He was broken down to Sargeant’;

Breakverb

reduce to bankruptcy;

‘My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!’; ‘The slump in the financial markets smashed him’;

Breakverb

change directions suddenly

Breakverb

emerge from the surface of a body of water;

‘The whales broke’;

Breakverb

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’;

Breakverb

do a break dance;

‘Kids were break-dancing at the street corner’;

Breakverb

exchange for smaller units of money;

‘I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy’;

Breakverb

destroy the completeness of a set of related items;

‘The book dealer would not break the set’;

Breakverb

make the opening shot that scatters the balls

Breakverb

separate from a clinch, in boxing;

‘The referee broke the boxers’;

Breakverb

go to pieces;

‘The lawn mower finally broke’; ‘The gears wore out’; ‘The old chair finally fell apart completely’;

Breakverb

break a piece from a whole;

‘break a branch from a tree’;

Breakverb

become punctured or penetrated;

‘The skin broke’;

Breakverb

pierce or penetrate;

‘The blade broke her skin’;

Breakverb

be released or become known; of news;

‘News of her death broke in the morning’;

Breakverb

cease an action temporarily;

‘We pause for station identification’; ‘let's break for lunch’;

Breakverb

interrupt the flow of current in;

‘break a circuit’;

Breakverb

undergo breaking;

‘The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages’;

Breakverb

find a flaw in;

‘break an alibi’; ‘break down a proof’;

Breakverb

find the solution or key to;

‘break the code’;

Breakverb

change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another;

‘Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children’;

Breakverb

happen;

‘Report the news as it develops’; ‘These political movements recrudesce from time to time’;

Breakverb

become fractured; break or crack on the surface only;

‘The glass cracked when it was heated’;

Breakverb

of the male voice in puberty;

‘his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir’;

Breakverb

fall sharply;

‘stock prices broke’;

Breakverb

fracture a bone of;

‘I broke my foot while playing hockey’;

Breakverb

diminish or discontinue abruptly;

‘The patient's fever broke last night’;

Breakverb

weaken or destroy in spirit or body;

‘His resistance was broken’; ‘a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death’;

Breakverb

separate into pieces as a result of a blow, shock, or strain

‘the rope broke with a loud snap’; ‘windows in the street were broken by the blast’;

Breakverb

sustain an injury involving the fracture of a bone or bones in a part of the body

‘what if his leg had broken?’; ‘she had broken her leg in two places’;

Breakverb

cause a cut or graze in (the skin)

‘the bite had scarcely broken the skin’;

Breakverb

make or become inoperative

‘he's broken the video’; ‘the machine has broken and they can't fix it until next week’;

Breakverb

(of the amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus) be discharged when the sac is ruptured in the first stages of labour

‘she realized her waters had broken’;

Breakverb

open (a safe) forcibly.

Breakverb

use (a banknote) to pay for something and receive change out of the transaction

‘she had to break a tenner’;

Breakverb

(of two boxers or wrestlers) come out of a clinch, especially at the referee's command

‘I was acting as referee and telling them to break’;

Breakverb

make the first stroke at the beginning of a game of billiards, pool, or snooker.

Breakverb

unfurl (a flag or sail).

Breakverb

succeed in deciphering (a code)

‘ciphers are easily broken by the new wonder machines’;

Breakverb

disprove (an alibi).

Breakverb

interrupt (a continuity, sequence, or course)

‘the new government broke the pattern of growth’; ‘his concentration was broken by a sound’;

Breakverb

put an end to (a silence) by speaking or making contact

‘it was some time before he broke the silence’;

Breakverb

make a pause in (a journey)

‘we will break our journey in Venice’;

Breakverb

stop proceedings in order to have a pause or vacation

‘at mid-morning they broke for coffee’;

Breakverb

lessen the impact of (a fall)

‘she put out an arm to break her fall’;

Breakverb

disconnect or interrupt (an electric circuit)

‘a multimeter able to measure current without having to break the circuit under test’;

Breakverb

stop oneself from engaging in (a habitual practice)

‘try to break the habit of adding salt at the table’;

Breakverb

surpass (a record)

‘the film broke box office records in the US’;

Breakverb

fail to observe (a law, regulation, or agreement)

‘the council says it will prosecute traders who break the law’; ‘a legally binding contract which can only be broken by mutual consent’;

Breakverb

fail to continue with (a self-imposed discipline)

‘diets started without preparation are broken all the time’;

Breakverb

crush the emotional strength, spirit, or resistance of

‘the idea was to better the prisoners, not to break them’;

Breakverb

(of a person's emotional strength or control) give way

‘her self-control finally broke’;

Breakverb

destroy the power of (a movement or organization)

‘strategies used to break the union’;

Breakverb

destroy the effectiveness of (a strike), typically by moving in other people to replace the striking workers

‘a government threat to use the army to break the strike’;

Breakverb

(of the weather) change suddenly, especially after a fine spell

‘the weather broke and thunder rumbled through a leaden sky’;

Breakverb

(of a storm) begin violently

‘when all were aboard, the storm broke’;

Breakverb

(of dawn or a day) begin as the sun rises

‘dawn was just breaking’;

Breakverb

(of clouds) move apart and begin to disperse

‘on the seventh of September the clouds broke for the first time’;

Breakverb

(of waves) curl over and dissolve into foam

‘the Caribbean sea was breaking gently on the shore’;

Breakverb

(of a person's voice) falter and change tone, due to emotion

‘her voice broke as she relived the experience’;

Breakverb

(of a boy's voice) change in tone and register at puberty

‘after his voice broke, he left the choir’;

Breakverb

(of a vowel) develop into a diphthong, under the influence of an adjacent sound.

Breakverb

(of prices on the stock exchange) fall sharply.

Breakverb

(of news or a scandal) suddenly become public

‘since the news broke I've received thousands of wonderful letters’;

Breakverb

make bad news known to (someone)

‘he was trying to break the terrible news gently to his father’;

Breakverb

(chiefly of an attacking player or team, or of a military force) make a rush or dash in a particular direction

‘Mitchell won possession and broke quickly, allowing Hughes to score’;

Breakverb

(of a bowled cricket ball) change direction on bouncing, due to spin.

Breakverb

(of a ball) rebound unpredictably

‘the ball broke to Craig but his shot rebounded from the post’;

Breaknoun

an interruption of continuity or uniformity

‘the magazine has been published without a break since 1950’;

Breaknoun

an act of separating oneself from a pre-existing state of affairs

‘a break with the past’;

Breaknoun

a change in the weather

‘a week or so may pass without a break in the weather’;

Breaknoun

a change of line, paragraph, or page

‘dotted lines on the screen show page breaks’;

Breaknoun

a change of tone in a person's voice due to emotion

‘there was a break in her voice now’;

Breaknoun

an interruption in an electric circuit.

Breaknoun

the winning of a game against an opponent's serve.

Breaknoun

a pause in work or during an activity or event

‘I need a break from mental activity’; ‘a coffee break’; ‘those returning to work after a career break’;

Breaknoun

an interval during the school day

‘the bell went for break’;

Breaknoun

a short holiday

‘a weekend break in the Cotswolds’;

Breaknoun

a short solo or instrumental passage in jazz or popular music.

Breaknoun

dance music featuring breakbeats.

Breaknoun

a gap or opening

‘the track bends left through a break in the hedge’; ‘he stopped to wait for a break in the traffic’;

Breaknoun

an instance of breaking something, or the point where something is broken

‘he was stretchered off with a break to the leg’;

Breaknoun

a rush or dash in a particular direction, especially by an attacking player or team

‘Norwich scored on a rare break with 11 minutes left’;

Breaknoun

an escape, typically from prison.

Breaknoun

a change in the direction of a bowled ball on bouncing.

Breaknoun

an opportunity or chance, especially one leading to professional success

‘he got his break as an entertainer on a TV music hall show’;

Breaknoun

a consecutive series of successful shots, scoring a specified number of points

‘a break of 83 put him in front for the first time’;

Breaknoun

a player's turn to make the opening shot of a game

‘whose break is it?’;

Breaknoun

a bud or shoot sprouting from a stem.

Breaknoun

former term for breaking cart

Breaknoun

another term for brake