break away
Idioms-
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]
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Sever connections with a group. For example, It was hard for me to break away from that organization, but I knew it was necessary .
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Stop doing something, as in She broke away from work long enough to go out for lunch .
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.
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
It’s a bit slower, at just under 95 mph, but it features a devastatingly sharp, late break away from right-handed hitters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
That hasn’t stopped individual schools from trying to break away.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
I had enough sense at that point to break away toward the waterline, but I was trapped there, forced to watch it all play out.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
