breach
Americannoun
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breaches
plural
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the act or a result of breaking; a break or rupture.
Many districts were flooded by the river after a breach in an embankment upstream.
- Synonyms:
- fracture
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an infraction or violation, such as of a law, contract, trust, or promise.
If there is a breach of the warranty, we are not liable for damage.
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a gap made in a wall, fortification, line of soldiers, etc.; rift; fissure.
A breach in the castle walls gave the enemy an entrance.
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Digital Technology. the unauthorized acquisition, use, or disclosure of customers' or users' personal data.
There's no indication of a data breach affecting credit card information.
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a severance of friendly relations.
- Synonyms:
- dissension, separation, schism, rift, split, alienation
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the leap of a whale above the surface of the water.
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Archaic. the breaking of waves; the dashing of surf.
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Obsolete. wound.
verb (used with object)
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breaches,
present (3rd person singular)
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breached,
past participle, past
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breaching
present participle
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to make a rupture or opening in.
We need new ways to recover salmon without breaching the dams.
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to break or act contrary to (a law, promise, etc.).
The plaintiff alleges that the defendant has breached the terms of their license.
verb (used without object)
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breaches,
present (3rd person singular)
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breached,
past participle, past
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breaching
present participle
idioms
noun
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a crack, break, or rupture
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a breaking, infringement, or violation of a promise, obligation, etc
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any severance or separation
there was a breach between the two factions of the party
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a gap in an enemy's fortifications or line of defence created by bombardment or attack
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the act of a whale in breaking clear of the water
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the breaking of sea waves on a shore or rock
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an obsolete word for wound 1
verb
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(tr) to break through or make an opening, hole, or incursion in
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(tr) to break a promise, law, etc
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(intr) (of a whale) to break clear of the water
Usage
What does breach mean? A breach is a physical break or rupture, as in the hull of a ship. It also means a violation or infraction, as in a breach of trust. It can also be used as a verb referring to the action that leads to each of these things. Breach is often used in phrases like security breach, data breach, breach of trust, breach of etiquette, and breach of contract. Example: We view these ethical violations as an unforgivable breach of the public trust, and we call on the senator to resign.
Synonym Usage
Breach, infraction, violation, transgression all denote in some way the breaking of a rule or law or the upsetting of a normal and desired state. Breach is used infrequently in reference to laws or rules, more often in connection with desirable conditions or states of affairs: a breach of the peace, of good manners, of courtesy. Infraction most often refers to clearly formulated rules or laws: an infraction of the criminal code, of university regulations, of a labor contract. Violation, a stronger term than either of the preceding two, often suggests intentional, even forceful or aggressive, refusal to obey the law or to respect the rights of others: repeated violations of parking regulations; a human rights violation. Transgression, with its root sense of “a stepping across (of a boundary of some sort),” applies to any behavior that exceeds the limits imposed by a law, especially a moral law, a commandment, or an order; it often implies sinful behavior: a serious transgression of social customs, of God's commandments.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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breachsimple
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breachessimple
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have breachedperfect
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has breachedperfect
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am breachingprogressive
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are breachingprogressive
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is breachingprogressive
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have been breachingperfect progressive
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has been breachingperfect progressive
Past
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breachedsimple
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had breachedperfect
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was breachingprogressive
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were breachingprogressive
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had been breachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of breach
First recorded before 1000; Middle English breche, Old English bræc “breaking”; see break ( def. )
Explanation
A breach is a violation of a law, duty, or promise. If you'd contracted to mow your neighbor's lawn and don't do it, he can sue you for breach of contract. Or he can mow the lawn himself. Breach traces back to the Old English verb: brecan, "to break," which is what breach really means — "a breaking of something." Breach of contract is a legal way of saying you broke a promise. If your great aunt Edna is a stickler for propriety, she may be horrified when you eat your meat with the salad fork, considering it a breach of good manners.
Vocabulary lists containing breach
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It found the club had concealed the true state of its finances, saying City were "significantly in breach of both the Premier League's and UEFA's spending limits".
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Five days after Castillo left Myanmar, Kyaw pleaded guilty to breach of trust after the judge told him he would be sentenced to time served and released, Kyaw said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
It seems to have resulted from a different sort of breach.
From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2026
But Seoul condemned it as a breach of trust.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
To say, “Is your sheep genuine?” would be a worse breach of manners than to inquire whether a citizen’s teeth, hair, or internal organs would test out authentic.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Manchester City confirmed Friday they had launched an appeal against a damning judgement that found the club guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
It’s not merely that security breaches exposing the personal information of up to hundreds of millions of people have become almost daily occurrences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that City had been found guilty by an independent commission of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
The agreement appears to allow firms to "define what counts as safety" and does not state what consequences there are to any breaches, Weatheral said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Now silently the host of Rohan moved forward into the field of Gondor, pouring in slowly but steadily, like the rising tide through breaches in a dike that men have thought secure.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
He served 78 days for shoplifting soap detergent, and had initially been given a suspended 32-week sentence but had breached it.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
All in this, it was said, showed that City failed to act "with utmost good faith" and "breached duties of co-operation that it owed to the Premier League".
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
In previous instances where the 10-year yield breached 5%, returns over the following 12 months were strong, he has been telling clients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
In July, holders of roughly $9 billion of Altice International’s bonds delivered a notice of default, alleging the company breached debt agreements through complex intercompany loans and asset transfers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
He slowed his digging rate, poking the soft clay gently until his fingers breached the tunnel wall.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
The prison population has risen significantly in recent decades, partly as a result of longer sentences and more people being returned to prison for breaching the conditions of their release.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
In fact, the furthest it has ever gone in disciplinary matters was issuing a 10-point deduction to Everton in 2023 for breaching spending rules.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
U.S. diesel prices are soaring once again as the squeeze in the fuels market tightens, breaching $6 a gallon for the first time on Friday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The claims brought more than two years ago by law firm Austen Hayes alleged Grindr had shared sensitive data with third parties for commercial purposes, breaching UK privacy laws.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Behind them glittered the astounding ocean with its heaving storms, flying fish, breaching whales, and curls of phosphorescent waves.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
