break away

Idioms  

1. Leave hurriedly, escape, get loose. For example, The boy tried to break away, but his mother held onto his coat , or On the last lap the horse broke away from the pack . [First half of 1500s]

2. Sever connections with a group. For example, It was hard for me to break away from that organization, but I knew it was necessary .

3. Stop doing something, as in She broke away from work long enough to go out for lunch .

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

break away

Last year Indiana offered to open its doors to the disaffected counties, and absorb all the Illinois residents who wanted to break away.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

Polling indicates less than a quarter of Alberta's roughly five million people want to break away from Canada, but Carney, who grew up in the western province, said "polls don't vote."

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Briefly, for a few laps, Russell and Max Verstappen threatened to break away in the lead while Antonelli was finding a way past Gasly, the two McLarens and Hamilton's Ferrari.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

They are also much thinner than the enormous icebergs that break away from Antarctica.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

This was the picture I took of Angelo cleaning my pig when I needed to break away.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---