broken Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb terminate
    interrupt; break.
    • She interrupted her pregnancy
    • break a lucky streak
    • break the cycle of poverty
  2. verb become separated into pieces or fragments
    break; split up; fall apart; come apart; separate.
    • The figurine broke
    • The freshly baked loaf fell apart
  3. verb render inoperable or ineffective
    break.
    • You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!
  4. verb ruin completely
    break; bust.
    • He busted my radio!
  5. verb destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments
    break.
    • He broke the glass plate
    • She broke the match
  6. verb act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
    go against; infract; violate; break; offend; breach; transgress.
    • offend all laws of humanity
    • violate the basic laws or human civilization
    • break a law
    • break a promise
  7. verb move away or escape suddenly
    break; break away; break out.
    • The horses broke from the stable
    • Three inmates broke jail
    • Nobody can break out--this prison is high security
  8. verb scatter or part
    break.
    • The clouds broke after the heavy downpour
  9. verb force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up
    break; erupt; burst.
    • break into tears
    • erupt in anger
  10. verb prevent completion
    break; stop; discontinue; break off.
    • stop the project
    • break off the negotiations
  11. verb enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act
    break; break in.
    • Someone broke in while I was on vacation
    • They broke into my car and stole my radio!
    • who broke into my account last night?
  12. verb make submissive, obedient, or useful
    break; break in.
    • The horse was tough to break
    • I broke in the new intern
  13. verb fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns
    go against; break; violate.
    • This sentence violates the rules of syntax
  14. verb surpass in excellence
    better; break.
    • She bettered her own record
    • break a record
  15. verb make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret
    disclose; reveal; unwrap; bring out; expose; let on; discover; divulge; break; let out; give away.
    • 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
    • unwrap the evidence in the murder case
  16. verb come into being
    break.
    • light broke over the horizon
    • Voices broke in the air
  17. verb stop operating or functioning
    die; give out; give way; break; go; go bad; conk out; fail; break down.
    • 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
  18. verb interrupt a continued activity
    break; break away.
    • She had broken with the traditional patterns
  19. verb make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing
    break.
    • The ranks broke
  20. verb curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves
    break.
    • The surf broke
  21. verb lessen in force or effect
    break; damp; weaken; dampen; soften.
    • soften a shock
    • break a fall
  22. verb be broken in
    break.
    • If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress
  23. verb come to an end
    break.
    • The heat wave finally broke yesterday
  24. verb vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity
    break.
    • The flat plain was broken by tall mesas
  25. verb cause to give up a habit
    break.
    • She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes
  26. verb give up
    break.
    • break cigarette smoking
  27. verb come forth or begin from a state of latency
    break.
    • The first winter storm broke over New York
  28. verb happen or take place
    break.
    • Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months
  29. verb cause the failure or ruin of
    break.
    • His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage
    • This play will either make or break the playwright
  30. verb invalidate by judicial action
    break.
    • The will was broken
  31. verb discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
    break; break up; 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
  32. verb assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
    bump; break; demote; relegate; kick downstairs.
    • She was demoted because she always speaks up
    • He was broken down to Sergeant
  33. verb reduce to bankruptcy
    break; smash; ruin; bankrupt.
    • My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!
    • The slump in the financial markets smashed him
  34. verb change directions suddenly
    break.
  35. verb emerge from the surface of a body of water
    break.
    • The whales broke
  36. verb break down, literally or metaphorically
    collapse; founder; give; give way; break; cave in; fall in.
    • 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
  37. verb do a break dance
    break-dance; break; break dance.
    • Kids were break-dancing at the street corner
  38. verb exchange for smaller units of money
    break.
    • I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy
  39. verb destroy the completeness of a set of related items
    break; break up.
    • The book dealer would not break the set
  40. verb make the opening shot that scatters the balls
    break.
  41. verb separate from a clinch, in boxing
    break.
    • The referee broke the boxers
  42. verb go to pieces
    break; wear out; fall apart; wear; bust.
    • The lawn mower finally broke
    • The gears wore out
    • The old chair finally fell apart completely
  43. verb break a piece from a whole
    break; snap off; break off.
    • break a branch from a tree
  44. verb become punctured or penetrated
    break.
    • The skin broke
  45. verb pierce or penetrate
    break.
    • The blade broke her skin
  46. verb be released or become known; of news
    break; get around; get out.
    • News of her death broke in the morning
  47. verb cease an action temporarily
    intermit; break; pause.
    • We pause for station identification
    • let's break for lunch
  48. verb interrupt the flow of current in
    break.
    • break a circuit
  49. verb undergo breaking
    break.
    • The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages
  50. verb find a flaw in
    break.
    • break an alibi
    • break down a proof
  51. verb find the solution or key to
    break.
    • break the code
  52. verb change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another
    break.
    • Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children
  53. verb happen
    break; recrudesce; develop.
    • Report the news as it develops
    • These political movements recrudesce from time to time
  54. verb become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
    break; check; crack.
    • The glass cracked when it was heated
  55. verb crack; of the male voice in puberty
    break.
    • his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir
  56. verb fall sharply
    break.
    • stock prices broke
  57. verb fracture a bone of
    break; fracture.
    • I broke my foot while playing hockey
  58. verb diminish or discontinue abruptly
    break.
    • The patient's fever broke last night
  59. verb weaken or destroy in spirit or body
    break.
    • His resistance was broken
    • a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death
  60. adjective physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
    • a broken mirror
    • a broken tooth
    • a broken leg
    • his neck is broken
  61. adjective not continuous in space, time, or sequence or varying abruptly
    • broken lines of defense
    • a broken cable transmission
    • broken sleep
    • tear off the stub above the broken line
    • a broken note
    • broken sobs
  62. adjective satellite subdued or brought low in condition or status
    low; humbled; crushed; humiliated.
    • brought low
    • a broken man
    • his broken spirit
  63. adjective (especially of promises or contracts) having been violated or disregarded
    unkept.
    • broken (or unkept) promises
    • broken contracts
  64. adjective satellite tamed or trained to obey
    broken in.
    • a horse broken to the saddle
    • this old nag is well broken in
  65. adjective satellite topographically very uneven
    rugged.
    • broken terrain
    • rugged ground
  66. adjective satellite imperfectly spoken or written
    • broken English
  67. adjective satellite thrown into a state of disarray or confusion
    upset; confused; disordered.
    • troops fleeing in broken ranks
    • a confused mass of papers on the desk
    • the small disordered room
    • with everything so upset
  68. adjective satellite weakened and infirm
    • broken health resulting from alcoholism
  69. adjective satellite destroyed financially
    impoverished; wiped out.
    • the broken fortunes of the family
  70. adjective satellite out of working order (`busted' is an informal substitute for `broken')
    busted.
    • a broken washing machine
    • the coke machine is broken
    • the coke machine is busted
  71. adjective satellite discontinuous
    • broken clouds
    • broken sunshine
  72. adjective satellite lacking a part or parts
    • a broken set of encyclopedia

WordNet

Bro"ken adjective
Etymology
From Break, v. t.
Definitions
  1. Separated into parts or pieces by violence; divided into fragments; as, a broken chain or rope; a broken dish.
  2. Disconnected; not continuous; also, rough; uneven; as, a broken surface.
  3. Fractured; cracked; disunited; sundered; strained; apart; as, a broken reed; broken friendship.
  4. Made infirm or weak, by disease, age, or hardships.
    The one being who remembered him as he been before his mind was broken. G. Eliot.
    The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay, Sat by his fire, and talked the night away. Goldsmith.
  5. Subdued; humbled; contrite.
    The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. Ps. li. 17.
  6. Subjugated; trained for use, as a horse.
  7. Crushed and ruined as by something that destroys hope; blighted. "Her broken love and life." G. Eliot.
  8. Not carried into effect; not adhered to; violated; as, a broken promise, vow, or contract; a broken law.
  9. Ruined financially; incapable of redeeming promises made, or of paying debts incurred; as, a broken bank; a broken tradesman.
  10. Imperfectly spoken, as by a foreigner; as, broken English; imperfectly spoken on account of emotion; as, to say a few broken words at parting.
    Amidst the broken words and loud weeping of those grave senators. Macaulay.

Webster 1913