breakage

[ brey-kij ]

/ ˈbreɪ kɪdʒ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR breakage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of breaking; state of being broken.

the amount or quantity of things broken: There was a great deal of breakage in that shipment of glassware.

an allowance or compensation for the loss or damage of articles broken in transit or in use.

the money accrued by a racetrack from calculating the payoff to winning pari-mutuel bettors only in multiples of dimes for each dollar bet.

Nearby words

break-in, break-in period, break-out group, break-up value, breakable, breakage, breakaway, breakbeat, breakbone fever, breakdown, breakdown van

Origin of breakage

First recorded in 1805–15; break + -age

Related forms

re·break·age, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for breakage

So raucous did the celebration get that City Tavern took the unusual step of sending along a bill for “breakage.”
Life, Liberty, and the Founding Fathers’ Pursuit of Hoppiness|Kevin Bleyer|July 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Large squares and plate glass are usually inserted when the sashes are hung to avoid risks of breakage.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 1|Various
The risk of breakage is so great that there is nothing to be gained.
The Potter's Craft|Charles F. Binns
Put them near articles which cannot be injured by the contents, if a breakage occurs.
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. V, August, 1878, No 10.|Various

"To pay for breakage," he said, and disappeared down Pelham Parkway.
The Boy Scout|Richard Harding Davis
But I can't get away from that wholesale disorder and breakage—the work of a mob.
A Boy Knight|Martin J. (Martin Jerome) Scott

British Dictionary definitions for breakage

breakage

/ (ˈbreɪkɪdʒ) /

noun

the act or result of breaking

the quantity or amount brokenthe total breakage was enormous

compensation or allowance for goods damaged while in use, transit, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012