break loose
Escape from restraint, as in The boat broke loose from its moorings, or He finally broke loose from the school of abstract expressionism. This expression also appears in all hell breaks loose, which indicates a state of fury or chaos, as in When Dad finds out you broke his watch, all hell will break loose, or When the children saw the dead pigeon in the hall, all hell broke loose. [Early 1400s]
Words Nearby break loose
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use break loose in a sentence
Expect all hell to break loose now, however, something akin to the wrath of God.
Luis Suarez, Uruguay’s Notorious Soccer Vampire, Strikes Again—Biting Italian in World Cup Win | Tunku Varadarajan | June 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIf you do nothing, it will likely break loose sooner or later anyway.
When the autopsy comes, all hell's going to break loose,” Liza Minnelli told CBS, “so thank God we're celebrating him now.
For good or ill, the torrent of rebellion was suffered to break loose, and it soon engulfed a continent.
The Red Year | Louis TracyThe smile was like a knife-thrust through her heart: everything in her began to tremble and break loose.
Summer | Edith Wharton
Im going to break loose—stop this eternal, maddening fighting to hold myself in—give way!
The Woman Gives | Owen JohnsonThe border excitement was about to break loose in deadly earnest, but that was more than any of them knew at that time.
Uncle Sam's Boys as Lieutenants | H. Irving HancockHe ought to break loose from her and run wild for a while—ought to rough it out West on fat sow bosom and heifer's delight.
A Yankee from the West | Opie Read
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