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Antonyms for break up

Grammar : Verb
Spell : breyk
Phonetic Transcription : breɪk

Definition of break up

Origin :
  • Old English brecan "to break, shatter, burst; injure, violate, destroy, curtail; break into, rush into; burst forth, spring out; subdue, tame" (class IV strong verb; past tense bræc, past participle brocen), from Proto-Germanic *brekan (cf. Old Frisian breka, Dutch breken, Old High German brehhan, German brechen, Gothic brikan), from PIE root *bhreg- "to break" (see fraction). Most modern senses were in Old English. In reference to the heart from early 13c. Meaning "to disclose" is from early 13c.
  • Break bread "share food" (with) is from late 14c. Break the ice is c.1600, in reference to the "coldness" of encounters of strangers. Break wind first attested 1550s. To break (something) out (1890s) probably is an image from dock work, of freeing cargo before unloading it. Ironic theatrical good luck formula break a leg has parallels in German Hals- und Beinbruch "break your neck and leg," and Italian in bocca al lupo. Evidence of a highly superstitious craft (cf. Macbeth).
  • verb end relationship, activity
Example sentences :
  • Laura promises to come over to our house in the evenin', and so we break up.
  • Extract from : « A Little Book of Profitable Tales » by Eugene Field
  • Break up and mash them with a potato-beetle, or a rolling-pin.
  • Extract from : « Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches » by Eliza Leslie
  • However, if it should break up, we can stay there all night.
  • Extract from : « Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood » by George MacDonald
  • Why, in my person, do you break up the consent of the whole world?
  • Extract from : « The Formation of Christendom, Volume VI » by Thomas W. (Thomas William) Allies
  • To what place did Sa̤ul go, that he might break up the church there?
  • Extract from : « Hurlbut's Bible Lessons » by Rev. Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
  • Neither seemed inclined to break up the awkwardness of the pause.
  • Extract from : « The Night Riders » by Ridgwell Cullum
  • The group in the lawyer's office did not break up for another hour.
  • Extract from : « Fair Harbor » by Joseph Crosby Lincoln
  • The crowd began to break up, and the people went off singing.
  • Extract from : « The Eternal City » by Hall Caine
  • This was at night, and we were under an order to break up next morning.
  • Extract from : « The Shadow of a Crime » by Hall Caine
  • The soil will be too hard in summer for a plough and a pair of oxen to break up.
  • Extract from : « The Economist » by Xenophon

Synonyms for break up

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019