breaking

present participle of break
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as in reducing
to bring to a lower grade or rank the captain was broken to lieutenant commander for disobeying a direct order from his group commander

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as in deciphering
to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park mathematicians broke the Enigma code being used by the Nazis

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as in plowing
to cut into and turn over the sod of (a piece of land) using a bladed implement farmers once broke fields with horse-drawn plows

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as in dying
to stop functioning after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day

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as in bankrupting
to cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts another bad investment could break him

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as in surfacing
to penetrate the surface (as of water) from below dolphins were breaking all around the boat

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Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of breaking The wide receiver exploded into the NFL last year, breaking multiple records in his debut campaign for the Los Angeles Rams, a remarkable achievement for a fifth round pick out of BYU. Ben Morse, CNN, 11 Dec. 2024 Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 11 Dec. 2024 Without breaking stride, Hunter blew past four more Utah defenders and hopped into the end zone, a broken play transformed into a work of art. Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 16 Nov. 2024 Lacking a tie-breaking vote could delay action at the FTC, such as when the commission was divided over 7-Eleven’s $21 billion purchase of Speedway stores in 2021. William Gavin, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024 Rebecca Cohen Rebecca Cohen is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital. Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024 Minyvonne Burke Minyvonne Burke is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024 Antonio Planas Antonio Planas is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital. Antonio Planas, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2024 In addition to editing content, Alex also covers breaking news, writing about crime and severe weather as well as everything from multistate lottery jackpots to the July Fourth hot dog eating contest. Alex Sundby, CBS News, 4 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaking
Verb
  • Climate change exacerbates the threats with rising temperatures disrupting migration patterns and diminishing the availability of milkweed, the monarch caterpillar's essential food source.
    Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2024
  • The decision depends on whether their conflict is disrupting the workplace.
    Johnny C. Taylor Jr., USA TODAY, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Nothing is stopping you from trying out things.
    Adam Fayed, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Freezing foods below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius) keeps them safe for longer by stopping bacterial growth.
    Merve Ceylan, Health, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • His proposals include reducing federal incentives for clean energy, curtailing the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate emissions, and imposing new tariffs that could increase the costs of clean energy technologies.
    Marianne Lehnis, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • These solutions enable just-in-time production, reducing the likelihood of waste and excess inventory while improving resource efficiency.
    Georg Beyschlag, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • First, any executive order he issues will almost certainly face immediate legal challenges for violating the Constitution.
    Maia Pandey, Journal Sentinel, 10 Dec. 2024
  • That 2022 settlement broke down into $242 million for refunds and a $275 million penalty for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
    Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • After all, if there are currently no real world uses for quantum computing, the solution cannot be put to solving problems, let alone commercialized.
    Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 11 Dec. 2024
  • As for nonlinear operations, these don’t follow the classical linear equations that are critical to solving conventional problems.
    John Werner, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • People around the world have been dying to see how this one ends.
    Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 9 Dec. 2024
  • The shooter approached from behind, opened fire, and left the Chief Executive of UnitedHealthcare dying on a Manhattan sidewalk.
    ABC News, ABC News, 8 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Record slip Stocks moved lower Thursday, retreating from the records the major indexes hit in the previous trading session.
    Michele Luhn, CNBC, 6 Dec. 2024
  • In Iceland, glaciers cover about 10 percent of the country's area but are rapidly retreating.
    Jason Fields, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • By spreading the burden of some of the work traditionally carried out by the CIO, businesses are able to bring a greater diversity of skills and experience to the tasks of leading organization-wide digital transformation in 2025.
    Bernard Marr, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Minton had been spreading Christmas cheer as Santa since 2008.
    Wendy Grossman Kantor, People.com, 10 Dec. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near breaking

Cite this Entry

“Breaking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaking. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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