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.
Toward the end of 2020—with Covid having pushed everyone into their respective video chat boxes—a group coalesced around Dario to break off and form their own company.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
When ovarian cancer develops, cancer cells break off from the tumor.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 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
"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
But then I hiccup, and she starts hiccupping with laughter, and we're laughing when we break off our hug, though we're still holding hands.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
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.
