break the news

Idioms  

1. Make something known, as in We suspected that she was pregnant but waited for her to break the news to her in-laws. This term, in slightly different form (break a matter or break a business), dates from the early 1500s. Another variant is the 20th-century journalistic phrase, break a story, meaning “to reveal a news item or make it available for publication.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

break the news

Later, Black invited Harris up to Bedford to break the news of his decision.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

Serena Williams opted to let Nike break the news about her pro tennis comeback at age 44 in two slick commercials.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

Humphrys, who joined the BBC in 1966, said he was working for the corporation in Washington DC when he was among the first journalists to break the news of Nixon's resignation.

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

So when I called him to break the news, he started crying.

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2026

So he’s asked their sister Anna’s husband to break the news in person.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

Related Words

• advise
• announce
• confess
• declare
• disclose
• explain
• express
• inform
• instruct
• mention
• notify
• order
• report
• reveal
• say
• speak
• state
• summon