Showing results for "breaking"

• present participle of break.

breaking

¹ American  

[bray-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

adjective

1. (of a news story) currently developing or having happened recently and being released for publication or airing, as on television or radio, in print, or on the internet.

   Our network aims to be your trusted source for breaking news, local weather, and sports.

2. coming into being suddenly.

   When I awoke, it was breaking day over the eastern horizon.

3. changing or collapsing suddenly.

   This is a photograph of a breaking wave in the subantarctic waters of the Southern Ocean.

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breaking ² American  

[bray-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

noun

1. Phonology. the change of a pure vowel to a diphthong, especially in certain environments, as, in Old English, the change of a vowel to a diphthong under the influence of a following consonant or combination of consonants, as the change of -a- to -ea- and of -e- to -eo- before preconsonantal r or l and before h, as in earm “arm” developed from arm, and eorthe “earth” from erthe.

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breaking ³ American  

[bray-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

noun

1. break dancing.

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breaking British  

/ ˈbreɪkɪŋ /

noun

1. linguistics (in Old English, Old Norse, etc) the change of a vowel into a diphthong

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Etymology

Origin of breaking¹

First recorded in 1930–35; break ( def. ) (in the sense “to release a news story for publication”) + -ing ² ( def. )

Origin of breaking²

First recorded in 1870–75; translation of German Brechung; see break, -ing ¹

Origin of breaking³

First recorded in 1980–85; by ellipsis

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breaking

Chondrocytes begin producing inflammatory molecules while also breaking down collagen, a structural protein that gives cartilage much of its strength.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

“He’s going to be breaking off a lot of these wood bats with that cut fastball.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

The answer, in the end, was by breaking his lifelong conditioning, contradicting one of the main qualifications of heroic worthiness established by a council of powerful beings most people aren’t even aware exists.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

A friend in her 80s slipped on the stairs to her flooded basement and fell, breaking two posterior ribs and injuring her shoulder.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

If they’re released during a nuclear accident, the same neutrons that ping around inside the nuclear reactor breaking apart uranium atoms can careen through a worker’s body.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland