Showing results for "breaking"

• present participle of break.

breaking

¹ American  

[brey-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

adjective

1. (of a news story) currently developing or having happened recently and being released for publication or airing, as on television or radio, in print, or on the internet.

   Our network aims to be your trusted source for breaking news, local weather, and sports.

2. coming into being suddenly.

   When I awoke, it was breaking day over the eastern horizon.

3. changing or collapsing suddenly.

   This is a photograph of a breaking wave in the subantarctic waters of the Southern Ocean.

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breaking ² American  

[brey-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

noun

1. Phonology. the change of a pure vowel to a diphthong, especially in certain environments, as, in Old English, the change of a vowel to a diphthong under the influence of a following consonant or combination of consonants, as the change of -a- to -ea- and of -e- to -eo- before preconsonantal r or l and before h, as in earm “arm” developed from arm, and eorthe “earth” from erthe.

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breaking ³ American  

[brey-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

noun

1. break dancing.

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breaking British  

/ ˈbreɪkɪŋ /

noun

1. linguistics (in Old English, Old Norse, etc) the change of a vowel into a diphthong

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Etymology

Origin of breaking¹

First recorded in 1930–35; break ( def. ) (in the sense “to release a news story for publication”) + -ing ² ( def. )

Origin of breaking²

First recorded in 1870–75; translation of German Brechung; see break, -ing ¹

Origin of breaking³

First recorded in 1980–85; by ellipsis

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breaking

U.S. retail gasoline averaged $4.48 a gallon Tuesday, about 40 cents higher than a month ago and breaking with the usual pattern of price drops after the Labor Day holiday.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

For Lindy Li, the 2024 Democratic National Convention also proved a breaking point.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Pilots describe a high-stakes race in the skies of Los Angeles, with the TV stations battling to get breaking news on the air first.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

For the opening 10 minutes, the match followed the script of last year's World Cup final between the two sides, with Canada breaking the deadlock and England immediately hitting back.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

“I get that. We did a whole section on the Holocaust last year. I could actually feel my heart breaking, just reading about all the horrific things that happened.”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold