2
PHRASAL VERB
If you
break off
when you are doing or saying something, you suddenly stop doing it or saying it. □ [V
P
]
Llewelyn broke off in mid-sentence.
□ [V
P
n]
He broke off the summit meeting before it had got properly started.
[Also V
n P
]
3
PHRASAL VERB
If someone
breaks off
a relationship, they end it. □ [V
P
n]
The two West African states had broken off relations two years ago.
□ [V
n P
+ with
]
He doesn't seem to have the courage to break it off with her.
▸
break out
1
PHRASAL VERB
If something such as war, fighting, or disease
breaks out
, it begins suddenly. □ [V
P
]
He was 29 when war broke out.
□ [V
P
]
I was in a nightclub in Brixton and a fight broke out.
2
PHRASAL VERB
If a prisoner
breaks out
of
a prison, they escape from it. □ [V
P
+ of
]
The two men broke out of their cells and cut through a perimeter fence.
[Also V
P
]
3
→ see also
breakout
4
PHRASAL VERB
If you
break out
of
a dull situation or routine, you manage to change it or escape from it. □ [V
P
+ of
]
It's taken a long time to break out of my own conventional training.
□ [V
P
]
I'm afraid to break out and do anything dramatic.
5
PHRASAL VERB
If you
break out
in
a rash or a sweat, a rash or sweat appears on your skin. □ [V
P
+ in
]
A person who is allergic to cashews may break out in a rash when he consumes these nuts.
□ [V
P
+ on
]
A line of sweat broke out on her forehead and she thought she might faint.
▸
break through
1
PHRASAL VERB
If you
break through
a barrier, you succeed in forcing your way through it. □ [V
P
n]
Protesters tried to break through a police cordon.
□ [V
P
+ onto
]
About fifteen inmates broke through onto the roof.
2
PHRASAL VERB
If you
break through
, you achieve success even though there are difficulties and obstacles. □ [V
P
]
There is still scope for new writers to break through.
□ [V
P
n]
I broke through the poverty barrier and it was education that did it.
3
→ see also
breakthrough
▸
break up
1
PHRASAL VERB
When something
breaks up
or when you
break
it
up
, it separates or is divided into several smaller parts. □ [V
P
]
There was a danger of the ship breaking up completely.
□ [V
P
n]
Break up the chocolate and melt it.
□ [V
n P
+ into
]
He broke the bread up into chunks and gave Meer a big one.
□ [V
n P
]
Tanks are strongly built. It is a complicated and difficult process to break them up.
2
PHRASAL VERB
If you
break up
with
your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife, your relationship with that person ends. □ [V
P
+ with
]
My girlfriend had broken up with me.
□ [V
P
]
He felt appalled by the whole idea of marriage so we broke up.
3
PHRASAL VERB
If a marriage
breaks up
or if someone
breaks
it
up
, the marriage ends and the partners separate. □ [V
P
]
MPs say they work too hard and that is why so many of their marriages break up.
□ [V
P
n]
Fred has given me no good reason for wanting to break up our marriage.
4
PHRASAL VERB
When a meeting or gathering
breaks up
or when someone
breaks
it
up
, it is brought to an end and the people involved in it leave. □ [V
P
]
A neighbour asked for the music to be turned down and the party broke up.
□ [V
P
n]
Police used tear gas to break up a demonstration.
□ [V
n P
]
He charged into the crowd. 'Break it up,' he shouted.
