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broken

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verb

past participle of break
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as in demoted
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 deciphered
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 plowed
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 stalled
to stop functioning after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day

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as in ruined
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 emerged
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 broken
Adjective
As a result, the helo dove into a crash that left Josie not only dazed, but with a very broken left leg. Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 8 Dec. 2024 The driver of the BMW suffered fractures to her spine and pelvis and her other passenger suffered a broken arm. Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
Verb
Shortly after noon Sunday, the waters eight miles off the coast of Newport Beach were broken by an unusual, if not majestic, sight. Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2024 There was little sign of any security presence, and Associated Press reporters saw a few SUVs on the side of a main boulevard that appeared to have been broken into. Sarah El Deeb, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for broken 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for broken
Adjective
  • The picture depicts a bustling market of shoppers and vendors, with a jagged line reminiscent of those on graphs winding through the stalls.
    Leslie Katz, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Instead, vascular dementia began to take her down precipitously, mentally and physically, in jagged, irregular steps.
    Bellamy Young, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Blazy succeeds Virginie Viard, who exited Chanel last June after an uneven five-year tenure.
    WWD, WWD, 12 Dec. 2024
  • However, private organizations often lack regulatory mandates to enforce consistent practices, leading to uneven adoption of basic measures.
    Tony Bradley, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Ironically, the geometric slabs she’s stopped at to admire are a cluster of the Barbican’s residences, built to be rented out by the council but now privately owned and notoriously expensive.
    Alex Ritman, Variety, 11 Dec. 2024
  • One of the most memorable moments of the Eras Tour took place in Brazil, when Swift stopped the show to ask for water to be distributed to her audience in the sweltering heat.
    William Arruda, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Across all three cities, formerly two-star restaurants were demoted to one star.
    Tori Latham, Robb Report, 10 Dec. 2024
  • After the warning, Facebook demoted a New York Post news article about Hunter Biden's business entanglements.
    Nicole Russell, USA TODAY, 6 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • The state judge ruled the merger violated state consumer protection law and the federal case blocked the merger nationwide.
    Brittney Melton, NPR, 11 Dec. 2024
  • The organization represented Parents Protecting Our Children, a group that argued that the district violated parents’ religious freedom in not telling them about children’s trans identity.
    Mathew Rodriguez, Them, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • The mystery was solved when Concord De La Salle football coach Justin Alumbaugh reached me and apologized that his 2-year-old daughter, Isabel, had gotten ahold of his phone.
    Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Some of the puzzles can be quite complex, while others can be solved easily by trying X-number of combinations in rapid succession — although both means are still true to the character.
    Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Greg bolted the panels to the window like a triptych.
    Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024
  • Atlanta mom Curtrina Martin bolted awake before dawn on October 18, 2017.
    Dylan Moore, National Review, 10 Oct. 2024
Verb
  • Kaitlyn, who teaches third grade, is already spreading her love of Swift to her young charges.
    Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 10 Dec. 2024
  • Since March, the virus has spread to over 710 dairy herds across 15 states.
    Brittney Melton, NPR, 9 Dec. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near broken

Cite this Entry

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

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