Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

5 PHRASAL VERB When a school or the pupils in it break up , the school term ends and the pupils start their holidays. [BRIT ] □ [V P ] It's the last week before they break up, and they're doing all kinds of Christmas things.

6 PHRASAL VERB If you say that someone is breaking up when you are speaking to them on a mobile phone, you mean that you can only hear parts of what they are saying because the signal is interrupted. □ [V P ] The line's gone; I think you're breaking up.

7 → see also break-up

break|able /bre I kəb ^ə l/ (breakables ) ADJ [usu ADJ n] Breakable objects are easy to break by accident. □  Put away any valuable or breakable objects. ● N‑PLURAL Breakables are breakable objects. □  Keep breakables out of reach of very young children.

break|age /bre I k I dʒ/ (breakages )

1 N‑VAR Breakage is the act of breaking something. □  Brushing wet hair can cause stretching and breakage. □  Check that your insurance policy covers breakages and damage during removals.

2 N‑COUNT [usu pl] A breakage is something that has been broken. □  Check that everything is in good repair before moving in, as you have to replace breakages.

break|away /bre I kəwe I / ADJ [ADJ n] A breakaway group is a group of people who have separated from a larger group, for example because of a disagreement. □  Sixteen members of Parliament have formed a breakaway group.

break|down /bre I kdaʊn/ (breakdowns )

1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] The breakdown of something such as a relationship, plan, or discussion is its failure or ending. □ [+ of ] …the breakdown of talks between the U.S. and E.U. officials. □ [+ of ] …the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage. [Also + in ]

2 N‑COUNT [usu sing, oft adj N ] If you have a breakdown , you become very depressed, so that you are unable to cope with your life. □  Obviously we were under a lot of stress. And I basically had a breakdown.

3 → see also nervous breakdown

4 N‑COUNT If a car or a piece of machinery has a breakdown , it stops working. □  Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns.

5 N‑COUNT A breakdown of something is a list of its separate parts. □ [+ of ] The organisers were given a breakdown of the costs.

break|er /bre I kə ^r / (breakers )

1 N‑COUNT Breakers are big sea waves, especially at the point when they just reach the shore.

2 → see also ice-breaker , law-breaker , record-breaker , strike-breaker

break-e ven poi nt N‑SING When a company reaches break-even point , the money it makes from the sale of goods or services is just enough to cover the cost of supplying those goods or services, but not enough to make a profit. [BUSINESS ] □  $200 million was considered to be the break-even point for the film.

break|fast ◆◇◇ /bre kfəst/ (breakfasts , breakfasting , breakfasted )

1 N‑VAR Breakfast is the first meal of the day. It is usually eaten in the early part of the morning. □  What's for breakfast? □  …breakfast cereal.

2 → see also bed and breakfast , continental breakfast , English breakfast

3 VERB When you breakfast , you have breakfast. [FORMAL ] □ [V adv/prep] All the ladies breakfasted in their rooms. USAGE breakfast

You don’t usually use ‘a’ with breakfast . Don’t say, for example, ' She made a breakfast for everyone ’. Say ‘She made breakfast for everyone’. □  They had eggs and toast for breakfast .

brea k|fast ta|ble (breakfast tables ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] You refer to a table as the breakfast table when it is being used for breakfast. □  …reading the morning papers at the breakfast table.