break up Meaning, Definition & Usage

1. verb to cause to separate and go in different directions
   dispel; scatter; disperse; dissipate.
   
   • She waved her hand and scattered the crowds
2. verb discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
   break; separate; split up; part; split.
   
   • The business partners broke over a tax question
   • The couple separated after 25 years of marriage
   • My friend and I split up
3. verb come apart
   
   • the group broke up
4. verb break violently or noisily; smash;
   break apart; crash.
   
5. verb make a break in
   interrupt; cut off; disrupt.
   
   • We interrupt the program for the following messages
6. verb cause to go into a solution
   resolve; dissolve.
   
   • The recipe says that we should dissolve a cup of sugar in two cups of water
7. verb suffer a nervous breakdown
   crock up; crack up; collapse; crack.
   
8. verb take apart into its constituent pieces
   take apart; dismantle; break apart; disassemble.
   
9. verb destroy the completeness of a set of related items
   break.
   
   • The book dealer would not break the set
10. verb set or keep apart
    sever.
    
    • sever a relationship
11. verb attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example
    pick.
    
    • Pick open the ice
12. verb release ice
    calve.
    
    • The icebergs and glaciers calve
13. verb close at the end of a session
    adjourn; recess.
    
    • The court adjourned
14. verb bring the association of to an end or cause to break up
    dissolve.
    
    • The decree officially dissolved the marriage
    • the judge dissolved the tobacco company
15. verb come to an end
    dissolve.
    
    • Their marriage dissolved
    • The tobacco monopoly broke up
16. verb break or cause to break into pieces
    fragment; fragmentize; fragmentise.
    
    • The plate fragmented
17. verb cause to separate
    scatter; disperse.
    
    • break up kidney stones
    • disperse particles
18. verb separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts
    break down; decompose.
    
19. verb laugh unrestrainedly
    crack up.
    

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