commercial break

American

noun

a short interruption during radio or television programming for the broadcasting of a commercial or commercials.

commercial break British

noun

an interruption in a radio or television programme for the broadcasting of advertisements

"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

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.

“Thank you, Cindy. Right now we need to take a short commercial break. We’ll be back with more about the storm of the century.”

From Literature

That way, if changes were necessary, we could speak to each other in the commercial break.

From The Wall Street Journal

Miss the buzzer and you’re locked out of the auditorium until the next commercial break.

From Los Angeles Times

The nominations will be announced over about 20 minutes, with a gap in the middle to allow US network ABC to take a commercial break.

From BBC

And when Hollywood trades posted on social media that the award for best original score was announced during a commercial break, the Globes felt all the more distasteful.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023