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
That hasn’t stopped individual schools from trying to break away.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Newsom described the approach, called the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes program, as a solution to break away from the traditional conflict-ridden regulatory approach and improve the Delta’s ecological health.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
“She was just going to tell me about her elephant,” he protested loudly, tugging at my hand, trying to break away from me.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
