break loose

Idioms  

1. Escape from restraint, as in The boat broke loose from its moorings, or He finally broke loose from the school of abstract expressionism. This expression also appears in all hell breaks loose, which indicates a state of fury or chaos, as in When Dad finds out you broke his watch, all hell will break loose, or When the children saw the dead pigeon in the hall, all hell broke loose. [Early 1400s]

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Example Sentences

The first landslides and Spirit Lake Fifteen seconds after the earthquake, the bulge on the north face of Mount St. Helens broke loose and began to slide down the mountain.

From Literature

When a high-school frenemy convinces four post-college besties in suburban Maryland to let her make a documentary about them, it goes viral, and all millennial hell breaks loose.

From Los Angeles Times

“When we found out, all hell broke loose. He rented out the house to friends of his wife while he decided what to do next.”

From MarketWatch

From his rearview mirror, McMurrough saw Spivey move his arm slightly, he said at the deposition, and then “all hell broke loose.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Ms Strickland, who is retired, said she was attending the funeral of her best friend's partner when "all hell broke loose".

From BBC

Related Words

• casual
• impromptu
• instinctive
• offhand
• simple
• unplanned
• voluntary