break the news
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Neil died in 1965, it fell to Kai to phone their parents, who were in Italy, and break the news.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
Balde said he was "devastated" and had to break the news to his wife.
From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025
Once he learned the show’s fate, Colbert said he was unsure about when he should break the news to his staff, debating whether to wait until after the summer break or in September.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 1, 2025
"You knew at some point you were gonna need to strut into your family home and break the news to your family that you're gay."
From BBC • Jul. 1, 2025
Then, wearing only my undershorts, and streaked head to foot with mud like one of those lost guys from the Amazon rainforest, I went in to break the news to Mom.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
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.
