breakup

[breyk-uhp]

noun

1. disintegration; disruption; dispersal.

2. the ending of a personal, especially a romantic, relationship.

3. (in Alaska and Canada)

   1. the melting and loosening of ice in rivers and harbors during the early spring.

   2. the first day on which such ice is soft or dispersed enough to permit ships to use the waterways.

4. Informal.,  an act or instance of being convulsed with laughter.

5. temporary distortion in a televised picture.

Word History and Origins

Origin of breakup¹

First recorded in 1785–95; noun use of verb phrase break up

Example Sentences

Last week, the “Smile” singer shared a 14-track breakup record, “West End Girl.”

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After the breakup of the Soviet Union, it was revealed that their microprocessor technology was several generations behind ours.

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“Earlier this year, I actually experienced a breakup, and it wasn’t in reality about cooking, but the surface-level discussion was that it was about cooking,” he confessed.

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This slow breakup helps explain puzzling features from Earth's past, such as abandoned fragments of old tectonic plates and bursts of volcanic activity in unexpected places.

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And perhaps those breakups and their accompanying reputational homicides weren’t specific to race, but man oh man, are there a lot of essays by Black women who tell stories similar to mine.

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Related Words

• breakdown 
• disintegration 
• dissolution 
• divorce 
• separation 
• split 
• termination