breach
Americannoun
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the act or a result of breaking; a break or rupture.
Many districts were flooded by the river after a breach in an embankment upstream.
- Synonyms:
- fracture
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an infraction or violation, such as of a law, contract, trust, or promise.
If there is a breach of the warranty, we are not liable for damage.
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a gap made in a wall, fortification, line of soldiers, etc.; rift; fissure.
A breach in the castle walls gave the enemy an entrance.
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Digital Technology. the unauthorized acquisition, use, or disclosure of customers' or users' personal data.
There's no indication of a data breach affecting credit card information.
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a severance of friendly relations.
- Synonyms:
- dissension, separation, schism, rift, split, alienation
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the leap of a whale above the surface of the water.
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Archaic. the breaking of waves; the dashing of surf.
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Obsolete. wound.
verb (used with object)
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to make a rupture or opening in.
We need new ways to recover salmon without breaching the dams.
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to break or act contrary to (a law, promise, etc.).
The plaintiff alleges that the defendant has breached the terms of their license.
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
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a crack, break, or rupture
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a breaking, infringement, or violation of a promise, obligation, etc
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any severance or separation
there was a breach between the two factions of the party
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a gap in an enemy's fortifications or line of defence created by bombardment or attack
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the act of a whale in breaking clear of the water
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the breaking of sea waves on a shore or rock
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an obsolete word for wound 1
verb
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(tr) to break through or make an opening, hole, or incursion in
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(tr) to break a promise, law, etc
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(intr) (of a whale) to break clear of the water
Usage
What does breach mean? A breach is a physical break or rupture, as in the hull of a ship. It also means a violation or infraction, as in a breach of trust. It can also be used as a verb referring to the action that leads to each of these things. Breach is often used in phrases like security breach, data breach, breach of trust, breach of etiquette, and breach of contract. Example: We view these ethical violations as an unforgivable breach of the public trust, and we call on the senator to resign.
Synonym Usage
Breach, infraction, violation, transgression all denote in some way the breaking of a rule or law or the upsetting of a normal and desired state. Breach is used infrequently in reference to laws or rules, more often in connection with desirable conditions or states of affairs: a breach of the peace, of good manners, of courtesy. Infraction most often refers to clearly formulated rules or laws: an infraction of the criminal code, of university regulations, of a labor contract. Violation, a stronger term than either of the preceding two, often suggests intentional, even forceful or aggressive, refusal to obey the law or to respect the rights of others: repeated violations of parking regulations; a human rights violation. Transgression, with its root sense of “a stepping across (of a boundary of some sort),” applies to any behavior that exceeds the limits imposed by a law, especially a moral law, a commandment, or an order; it often implies sinful behavior: a serious transgression of social customs, of God's commandments.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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breachsimple
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breachessimple
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have breachedperfect
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has breachedperfect
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am breachingprogressive
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are breachingprogressive
-
is breachingprogressive
-
have been breachingperfect progressive
-
has been breachingperfect progressive
Past
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breachedsimple
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had breachedperfect
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was breachingprogressive
-
were breachingprogressive
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had been breachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of breach
First recorded before 1000; Middle English breche, Old English bræc “breaking”; see break ( def. )
Explanation
A breach is a violation of a law, duty, or promise. If you'd contracted to mow your neighbor's lawn and don't do it, he can sue you for breach of contract. Or he can mow the lawn himself. Breach traces back to the Old English verb: brecan, "to break," which is what breach really means — "a breaking of something." Breach of contract is a legal way of saying you broke a promise. If your great aunt Edna is a stickler for propriety, she may be horrified when you eat your meat with the salad fork, considering it a breach of good manners.
Vocabulary lists containing breach
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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"The Odyssey," Vocabulary from Part 1 of the epic poem
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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.
See Examples For:
A "miscommunication" on systems run by Anthropic and its testing partner left the models with live internet access, allowing them to breach other systems, the San Francisco-based firm said.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Throughout, Kurosawa emphasizes the castle’s impressive interiors, enhancing the sense that Murashige’s men are trapped, the greatest mystery being when Oda’s forces will finally breach Arioka’s defenses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
The breach came to light in August 2023 but an unprecedented super-injunction prevented it from being reported on until July 2025.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Under sharp questioning by Cornyn, Blanche said those entities hadn’t altered the agreement and acknowledged that Trump could theoretically sue the government for breach of contract for failing to create the fund.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Once we clear the breach in the northern wall, I pause and look back.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
The total fine handed down to Google comprises of two separate breaches of the DMA.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
AliExpress has to now pay the fine and present a plan to the EU by October 20 that includes what action it will take to tackle the breaches.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Concern over the data collected by telematics and other companies has been driven by breaches, illegal sales and the growing ability to “re-identify” the source of the data even when it has been anonymized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
They added the ICO was supporting organisations to address the wider issue of data breaches across the health sector, working closely with the National Data Guardian and NHS England.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
An intelligent being: A humpback whale breaches the surface of the waters, Frederick Sound, Alaska, summer 1979.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
On Tuesday, OpenAI confirmed that its models breached multiple companies.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Ten items had not been removed at least 20 days later, showing Telegram had breached Australia's online safety rules by failing to investigate and take "timely action", the court statement said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
On Tuesday, Reform asked the monitoring officer from the Greater London Authority, where Polanski is an elected member, to investigate whether he had breached the code of conduct.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
I must have only taken about 10 steps when the sea titan breached, its spotted skin flashing in the sunlight briefly before plunging beneath the waves.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
A tractor at last breached a hole in the seawall, and a few men began to go through.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
The fighting has sent energy prices soaring once more, with the benchmark oil futures contract breaching $100 per barrel for the first time since late May, when energy prices were on their way down.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
The latest was a $1 billion fine on Alphabet’s Google for breaching digital competition rules.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The EU can slap fines of up to 10 percent of a company's total global turnover for breaching the DMA.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Most pertinently, after breaching Uefa's financial sustainability regulations, Newcastle have entered into a three-year settlement with European football's governing body.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
‘Tardy as usual, Hippolytos. I hope your news is worth the wait. King Porphyrion should be . The ground between them split. An even larger giant leaped from the earth like a breaching whale. ‘
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
