Clues for the word "BREAK"
We've had 83 crossword clues used for this word, and seen it 146 times in crosswords. It was last seen in Evening Standard Cryptic crossword on October 30, 2025.
Definition of break
- v. t. - 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.
- v. t. - To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.
- v. t. - To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
- v. t. - To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
- v. t. - 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.
- v. t. - To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.
- v. t. - To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.
- v. t. - To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
- v. t. - To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
- v. t. - To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.
- v. t. - To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
- v. t. - To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.
- v. t. - 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.
- v. t. - To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle.
- v. t. - To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.
- v. t. - To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
- v. i. - To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.
- v. i. - To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.
- v. i. - To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to appear; to dawn.
- v. i. - To burst forth violently, as a storm.
- v. i. - To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the clouds are breaking.
- v. i. - To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
- v. i. - To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my heart is breaking.
- v. i. - To fall in business; to become bankrupt.
- v. i. - To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait; as, to break into a run or gallop.
- v. i. - 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.
- v. i. - To fall out; to terminate friendship.
- v. t. - An opening made by fracture or disruption.
- v. t. - An interruption of continuity; change of direction; as, a break in a wall; a break in the deck of a ship.
- v. t. - A projection or recess from the face of a building.
- v. t. - An opening or displacement in the circuit, interrupting the electrical current.
- v. t. - An interruption; a pause; as, a break in friendship; a break in the conversation.
- v. t. - An interruption in continuity in writing or printing, as where there is an omission, an unfilled line, etc.
- v. t. - The first appearing, as of light in the morning; the dawn; as, the break of day; the break of dawn.
- v. t. - A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.
- v. t. - A device for checking motion, or for measuring friction. See Brake, n. 9 & 10.
- n. - See Commutator.
Referring Clues
- Huddle ender
- Intermission
- Bit of luck
- Interruption
- Need fixing
- Go to pieces?
- Word that can follow the last word of 17- and 54-Across and 11- and 27-Down
- It can precede the words at either end of 20-, 39-, and 58-Across
- Pool opening
- Eightball starter
- With 56-Across, eat
- Come apart
- Tame
- Coffee time
- Take five
- Time for coffee
- Time-out for coffee
- Start a game of pool
- Require fixing
- Start a billiards game
- With 65-Across, go against the group ... or what the circled squares literally do in the answers to the starred clues
- Go all to pieces
- Fracture
- Shatter
- Snap
- Intermission ... or what you can do to the starts of 17-, 24-, 38-, 46- and 59-Across
- Fold under pressure
- Recess
- With 57-Down, part of a morning routine
- Nine ball beginning
- Hiatus
- Heart ______
- Piece of luck
- Rest
- Short recess
- Coffee
- Snap in two
- Interval
- Fall apart
- Brief rest period
- Opportunity to split
- Crack or smash
- Time away from work
- Opening shot in snooker
- Start a game of eight-ball
- Time off working
- Stop, say, for a rest
- Time off due to injury?
- An intermission? That's lucky!
- Disclose opportunity to stop working
- Bar and Mike Teavee's wrapper go around 11?
- Deviate from strict formation thus to find snark?
- Holiday - destroy
- Chance to split
- Billiards rest?
- See 15
- Holiday snap
- Time off to slow down, we hear
- 20 3's 12 quick-fit staff nearly botched has some padding
- Rest period
- What one may do to 17- and 60-Across and 11- and 28-Down
- -
- Start a billiards match
- An opportunity in the interval
- Work stoppage?
- Short vacation
- Start of a billiards game
- It’s bad to the bone
- A snooker rest?
- Stop working
- Opening shot in billiards
- Snap, crack or pop, maybe
- Respite
- The "five" in "take five," e.g.
- Time off due to injury?
- School vacation
- Disperse from a huddle
- The rest snap
- ___ of day
- At snooker, it means a rest for one's opponent
- A parting word from the referee
- Take ten
- Short holiday
Last Seen In
- Evening Standard Cryptic - October 30, 2025
- New Zealand Herald - August 31, 2025
- Daily Cryptic - June 06, 2025
- New Zealand Herald - June 02, 2025
- Daily Quick - May 25, 2025
- Penny Dell Daily - May 15, 2025
- Mindfood Daily - April 25, 2025
- King Syndicate - Eugene Sheffer - April 19, 2025
- LA Times - March 16, 2025
- Mindfood Daily - March 08, 2025
- Penny Dell Daily - January 27, 2025
- Daily Cryptic - January 26, 2025
- Daily Quick - January 03, 2025
- LA Times - December 30, 2024
- Evening Standard Easy - December 12, 2024
- Daily American - November 14, 2024
- Evening Standard Easy - September 26, 2024
- Evening Standard Quick - September 16, 2024
- Daily Quick - August 21, 2024
- Mindfood Daily - July 23, 2024
- Evening Standard Quick - July 17, 2024
- Daily Quick - July 16, 2024
- USA Today - July 10, 2024
- Daily Quick - May 27, 2024
- Mindfood Daily - April 26, 2024
- Your Life Choices - March 03, 2024
- Daily Quick - February 02, 2024
- Your Life Choices - January 28, 2024
- Daily Quick - January 09, 2024
- Evening Standard Quick - January 08, 2024
- And in 116 more crossword puzzles...