Synonyms

break loose

Idioms

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]

Example Sentences

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break loose

But all hell did break loose in other ways.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026

Andreas Skov Olsen floated in a cross and all hell was about to break loose.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026

As spring approaches, the sun warms the slopes and large ice blocks -- sometimes a meter long -- break loose.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2025

Ol’ heads were chattin’ that if Nick Saban didn’t get it together soon, Prime would roll into Tuscaloosa next and, then naturally, all hell would break loose.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2023

If that happened, everybody agreed that all hell would break loose.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

break loose

Example Sentences

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