break off
Britishverb
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to sever or detach or be severed or detached
it broke off in my hands
he broke a piece off the bar of chocolate
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(adverb) to end (a relationship, association, etc) or (of a relationship, etc) to be ended
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(intr, adverb) to stop abruptly; halt
he broke off in the middle of his speech
noun
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Stop abruptly, as in The trade talks broke off yesterday . [First half of 1300s]
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Separate, sever a connection, as in The baby broke off the tops of all the flowers , or The new sect has broken off from the established church . [First half of 1500s]
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End a relationship or friendship, as in Mary broke off her engagement to Rob . [Mid-1600s]
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.
"We are forming some intermediate products, such as sulfur dioxide. This intermediate product is much easier to break off."
From Science Daily • Jun. 17, 2026
In midsentence, she’d suddenly break off to excitedly note a young kestrel flying near the crossing or a honeybee foraging among some early flowers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026
Genesis offered to refund the intended mother, Ann Gottesman, its $35,000 agency fee if she chose to break off the relationship with Genesis.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025
"This enables us to measure the many different types of waves that are generated after icebergs break off," says lead author Dominik Gräff, a UW postdoctoral researcher affiliated with ETH Zurich.
From Science Daily • Nov. 14, 2025
Back in the darkest corner of my heart it lay, so well pressed that its fragile edges might chip, break off, even disintegrate if I tried to touch it.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
