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

Locsin shared that four of her son’s brothers in service knocked on her door Thursday night to break the news.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 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

Humphrys told The Times he "staggered" back to the office after a "lavish" lunch in August 1974 - and then told to break the news that US president Richard Nixon was resigning.

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

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

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2026

“Can you give it a few minutes so I can break the news to them? It’ll be easier coming from me.”

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

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Related Words

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

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