Showing results for "breaking"

• present participle of break.

breaking

¹ American  

[brey-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

adjective

1. (of a news story) currently developing or having happened recently and being released for publication or airing, as on television or radio, in print, or on the internet.

   Our network aims to be your trusted source for breaking news, local weather, and sports.

2. coming into being suddenly.

   When I awoke, it was breaking day over the eastern horizon.

3. changing or collapsing suddenly.

   This is a photograph of a breaking wave in the subantarctic waters of the Southern Ocean.

---

breaking ² American  

[brey-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

noun

1. Phonology. the change of a pure vowel to a diphthong, especially in certain environments, as, in Old English, the change of a vowel to a diphthong under the influence of a following consonant or combination of consonants, as the change of -a- to -ea- and of -e- to -eo- before preconsonantal r or l and before h, as in earm “arm” developed from arm, and eorthe “earth” from erthe.

---

breaking ³ American  

[brey-king] / ˈbreɪ kɪŋ /

noun

1. break dancing.

---

breaking British  

/ ˈbreɪkɪŋ /

noun

1. linguistics (in Old English, Old Norse, etc) the change of a vowel into a diphthong

---

Etymology

Origin of breaking¹

First recorded in 1930–35; break ( def. ) (in the sense “to release a news story for publication”) + -ing ² ( def. )

Origin of breaking²

First recorded in 1870–75; translation of German Brechung; see break, -ing ¹

Origin of breaking³

First recorded in 1980–85; by ellipsis

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breaking

“The punk rock ethos of Dadaism really resonates with me — breaking down the barriers of something in order to find the real essence of it. That’s what we’re trying to do in class.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Is the ‘picks and shovels’ trade breaking down?

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

She saw him a few more times before breaking things off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

By the early 2000s, British Asian culture was breaking into the mainstream.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

First they devised a way for Simon to reveal the ingredients for the visibilizer without breaking his pirate oath of secrecy.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood