breakingn.
/ˈbreɪkɪŋ/ The action of break v.† 4. A breach or gap. Obsolete.
1.
a. in transitive senses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > serving food > [noun] > cutting bread for distribution
breakingc975
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [noun]
breachOE
breakingc975
brusure1382
breaka1400
crasure1413
chininga1420
bursting1487
bruisinga1500
fraction?a1560
chinking1565
springingc1595
infraction1623
disruption1646
abruption1654
diruption1656
chapping1669
chopping1669
fracturea1676
rumple1746
breakage1775
disrupture1785
fracturing1830
disruptment1834
snapping1891
fractionation1926
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > [noun] > digging
delfeOE
pastining?1440
breaking1514
digging1552
repastination1569
potting1592
pastination1623
spade-work1778
delve1869
dig1887
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing wool > [noun] > combing > for first time
breaking1533–4
tumming1615
scribbling1681
society > authority > punishment > torture > [noun] > on the wheel
wheeling1611
breaking1722
c975 Rushw. Gosp. Luke xxiv. 35 On brecunge breodes.
1382 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 521 Cristis disciplis knewen him in brekynge of þe breed.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 8044 Widuten breking of any bow.
1514 in J. L. Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford (1882) 33 For brekyng of Ground in the cherche at the buryyng of her husband.
1533–4 Act 25 Hen. VIII xviii. §1 Spinninge, cardinge, breakinge, and sorting of wolles.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxii. 210 Euery poore scholler..cals it the breaking of Priscians head.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. i. 75 Breake any breaking here, and Ile breake your knaues pate. View more context for this quotation
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature ix. 202 Burnings, crucifixions, breakings upon the wheel.
1813 Examiner 18 Jan. 42/2 A breaking of windows on the ground-floor.
1823 J. G. Lockhart Reginald Dalton I. i. iv. 37 ‘Much blood, little breaking,’ is a maxim with which every sportsman is familiar.
b. with an adverb: see the verb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > [noun] > failure or going wrong > of equipment or machinery
failure1793
breakdown1838
breaking1842
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > [noun] > action or process of opening > forcing open
breaking1864
1607 S. Hieron Discouerie of Hypocrisie in Wks. (1620) I. 270 No breaking off of olde sinnes.
1610 Accts. St. John's Hosp., Canterbury (Canterbury Cathedral Archives: CCA-U13/5) For breacking owt of a tre.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. viii. 307 Blowings-up in steam-boats and breakings down in coaches.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxiii. 73 Dodo..was now getting his breaking in, at the hands of his young master.
1864 J. H. Burton Scot Abroad II. i. 77 A general breaking-open of the prisons.
1868 W. Collins Moonstone II. ii. viii. 187 The breaking-off of the engagement.
1957 J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation viii. 198 The breaking-down of other substance.
c. The act of forcing a passage into another person's house or other building; frequently in breaking and entering, = housebreaking n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > [noun] > violent
breakc1565
irruption1577
breach1578
breaking1617
inbreaking1652
inruption1809
inbreak1837
inburst1837
break-in1856
inbursting1858
incrash1861
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > burglary > [noun]
housebreachlOE
burgh-brechea1387
burglary1532
housebreaking1607
breaking and entering1617
game1811
crack1819
screwing1819
effraction1840
burst1857
burglarizing1872
burgling1880
ship-breaking1901
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > illegal entry
housebreachlOE
burgh-brechea1387
entry1588
trusiona1604
housebreaking1607
breaking1617
1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas at Burglary The Common Law restraines it to robbing of a house by night...The like offence committed by daie they call house breaking or robbing.
1729 G. Jacob New Law-dict. O1/2 If a Thief unlocks a Door, or draws the Latch of a Room, to rob..these are a Breaking.
1797 T. E. Tomlins Jacob's Law-dict. I. Bb3/1 A Felony at common law, in (1) breaking and entering (2) the mansion house of another..to the intent to commit some felony.
1855 Wharton Crim. Law U.S. (ed. 3) 598 Burglary is the breaking and entering the dwelling-house of another in the night.
1939 N. Marsh Overture to Death viii. 93 A breaking and entering job at Moorton Park with..her ladyship's jewellery gone.
d. In woollen manufacture, the operation by which short combed slivers are combined and made into continuous lengths. Also breaking-in.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > [noun] > elementary teaching or initiation
introductionc1430
induction1526
entrance1571
initiation1583
manumission1596
groundinga1656
initiating1750
breaking-in1843
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing wool > [noun] > other processes
forcing1819
breaking-in1843
blending1884
1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 554/1 The breaking being thus effected, the sliver of wool proceeds to a large bobbin or cylinder.
1915 R. Beaumont Woollen & Worsted 631 The piece, having been scoured, milled, dried, and tentered, is evenly damped, raised, or raised across before being passed onto the teazle machine. This is called ‘breaking-in’.
e. Phonetics. [After German brechung.] A sound-change consisting of the development of a diphthong from a single vowel due to the influence of certain following consonants; = fracture n. 5. Also applied to different sound changes in Old Norse and other Germanic languages.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > sound changes > [noun] > fracture
breaking1871
fracture1891
1871 F. A. March Compar. Gram. Anglo-Saxon Lang. i. 20 Breaking is the change of one vowel to two by a consonant.
1874 A. J. Ellis On Early Eng. Pronunc. IV. iv. xi. 1270 Grimm considers breaking mainly due to the action of a following r, h.
1885 A. S. Cook tr. E. Sievers Old Eng. Gram. § 77. 34 Breaking, according to Grimm, may be defined as the change of a short e to eo, and that of a short a to ea.
1937 Language 13 123 (title) Breaking in Old Norse and Old English.
1937 Language 13 123 Under breaking I include here the change of a front vowel in a stressed syllable to a diphthong by the influence of following velar elements whether these be consonants in the same syllable [in O.E.] or vowels in the next [in O.N.].
2.
a. in intransitive senses.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > [noun] > bankruptcy
bankrupt1539
bankrupting1570
bankruptism1606
bankruptship1613
bankrupture1617
bankruptcya1634
breaking1647
Carey Street1922
scam1966
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > [noun] > breaking or dashing
beating?c1225
jasch1513
wash1579
plash breach1582
breacha1616
breaking1647
plunge1781
jow1820
1647 T. Fuller Good Thoughts in Worse Times To Rdr. sig. A6 The difference, betwixt downright breaking, and craving time of their Creditors.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 39 A noise of breaking of their Waves on the Shoar.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 221 The Breaking of the Sea upon their Ship.
1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. vii. 85 Breaking is the death of a tradesman.
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule i. 16 He could hear the breaking of the waves along the hard coast.
b. with an adverb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > [noun] > going away suddenly or hurriedly > secretly or absconding > from restraint
breaking1719
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Job xxx. 14 Ye breakynge in of waters.
1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Disobedience i, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 551 The breach of obedience and breaking in of rebellion.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 39. ¶5 Abrupt Pauses and Breakings-off in the middle of a Verse.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 43 My breaking away from my Parents.
c. breaking (of the meres) = water-bloom n. Cf. break v. 5c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > [noun] > discoloration by organisms
redwater1839
breaking (of the meres)1884
water blossom1884
water-bloom1887
algal bloom1938
bloom1939
red tide1942
1884 W. Phillips in Trans. Shrops. Archæol. Soc. VII. 285 The breaking is called in German ‘Wasserblüthe’ (water-blossom).
1927 G. S. West & F. E. Fritsch Treat. Brit. Freshwater Algae 451 The phenomena of ‘water-bloom’ and the ‘breaking of the meres’ are due to the sudden and often periodical appearance of large quantities of a few species of Myxophyceae.
1948 New Biol. 5 21 This ‘water bloom’ or ‘breaking of the meres’ may be quite sudden.
3. breaking of the day: daybreak, dawn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > dawn > [noun]
aristc825
dawingc900
dayeOE
day-rimOE
day-redOE
mornOE
lightOE
lightingOE
dawning1297
day-rowa1300
grekinga1300
uprista1300
dayninga1325
uprisingc1330
sun arisingc1350
springc1380
springingc1380
day-springa1382
morrowingc1384
dayingc1400
daylighta1425
upspring1471
aurora1483
sky1515
orienta1522
breaking of the day1523
daybreak1530
day-peep1530
morrow dayc1530
peep of the morning1530
prick of the day?1533
morning1535
day-breaking1565
creek1567
sunup1572
breach of the day1579
break of day or morn1584
peep of day1587
uprise1594
dawna1616
day-dawn1616
peep of dawn1751
strike of day1790
skreigh1802
sunbreak1822
day-daw1823
screech1829
dayclean1835
sun dawn1835
first light1838
morning-red1843
piccaninny sun1846
piccaninny daylightc1860
gloaming1873
glooming1877
sparrow-fart1886
crack1887
sun-spring1900
piccaninny dawn1936
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xviii. 25 In the brekyng of the daye ii. trompettis of Scotland mette with the Englisshe scout-watche.
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xxxii. 24 There wrestled a man with him, vntill the breaking of the day . View more context for this quotation
1658 W. Johnson tr. F. Würtz Surgeons Guid ii. xviii. 128 At mornings near the breaking of the day they are most pained.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > opening or break in continuity
breakinga1300
breaka1400
interval1489
breach1530
gapa1616
discontinuity1676
puka1921
a1300 E.E. Psalter cv[i]. 23 He suld am have for-lorn; If noght Moises..Had standen in brekinge in his sight.
1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 24 The Breakings and Wants in the Arches you must work in by hand.
5. A piece of land newly broken up. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > [noun] > cultivated land > newly cultivated land
old landeOE
new ground1624
newtake1791
novalia1838
breaking1867
1867 Putnam's Mag. May (De Vere) Wide spaces of breaking showed the tender green of young wheat.
1883 Pamphlet Jamestown (Dakota Territory) Board of Tr. He earned enough besides, with what he raised on his breaking, to keep himself.
6. breaking-out: an eruption; an outburst.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > [noun] > from concealment, confinement, or obscurity
coming out?c1425
breaking-out1552
emergency1647
emergence1755
emerging1813
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > eruption > [noun] > an eruption
hivesc1500
breaking-out1552
exanthem1656
exanthema1657
efflorescence1684
rash1696
rushc1736
eruption1770
enanthema1842
enanthema1883
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [noun] > bursting violently from rest or restraint > instance of
outbreakinga1387
breaking-out1552
outbreak1562
eruption1598
storm1602
out-breach1609
fulmination1623
outflying1641
outburst1657
float1763
overboiling1767
irruption1811
gush1821
outflash1831
outflush1834
shooting forth1837
outbursting1838
blow-off1842
outblaze1843
upburst1843
upthrow1855
upbreak1856
spurt1859
outlash1868
spitfire1886
Brock's benefit1948
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Breakyng out of chyldrens mouths called exulceration.
a1649 W. Drummond Hist. James III in Wks. (1711) 44 The Authors of every Breaking-out and Sedition.
1652 J. French York-shire Spaw xv. 115 The Scab, the Itch, the Scurff..and all such breakings out.
1783 F. Michaelis in Med. Communications 1 356 There appeared a breaking-out on the forehead.
1854 H. Miller Schools & Schoolmasters (1857) xxv. 544 On the breaking out of the controversy.
7. breaking up, = break-up n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > [noun] > action of scattering or becoming scattered > breaking up of an assembly of people
skailing?c1450
breaking up1463
dismissiona1646
break-up1795
dissembly1887
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > [noun] > change or variation of weather
breaking up1832
break-up1836
weather-change1876
1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 34 I wil that my household be kept hool to gedyr..vj hool wykkes aftir my dissees and at the brekyng vp I wil myn executours and they haue a good dyner to gedyr.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. 195 To giue them Theams before their breaking vp at noone.
1726 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius (ed. 2) xlii. 222 Many a school-boy has done more than this for his breaking-up task.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. 625 It is presumed the boy will come home at breakings-up.
1832 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) II. Pneum. Introd. 70 The breaking-up of the monsoons is the name given by sailors to the shifting of the periodical winds.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
breaking plough n. (also breaking-up plough)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > other types of plough
ox-plough?1523
double plough1653
chip plough1742
Rotherham plough1743
fluke plough1775
breaking plough1781
miner1794
snap-plough1798
turf-cutter1819
scooter plough1820
bull-tongue1831
prairie plough1831
split-plough1840
prairie breaker1857
straddle-plough1875
tickle-plough1875
chill-plough1886
stump-jump1896
swamp plough1930
prairie buster1943
1781 M. Patten Diary (1903) 438 Our 4 oxen and breaking up plow helped james Walker break up.
1853 Knickerbocker 42 593 The great ‘breaking-plough’..goes tearing..through the roots and grubs.
1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 43 There had been an old breaking plough left just outside the house.
b.
breaking-weight n.
ΚΠ
1851 Illustr. London News 4 Jan. 10 The breaking weight being 30 tons.
C2.
breaking-crop n. the first crop on newly broken ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun] > other crops
fleece1513
white crop1743
green crop1744
root crop1772
row crop1776
robber1777
mix-grass1778
breaking-crop1808
industrial crop1818
foliage crop1831
kharifa1836
scourge-crop1842
overcrop1858
by-crop1880
coppice-with-standards1882
sewage grass1888
trap-crop1899
cleaning crop1900
nurse crop1907
cover crop1909
smother crop1920
stoop crop1928
snatch crop1937
break crop1967
wholecrop1968
1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon vii. 181 It has occurred..for lay oats to have been made the breaking-crop.
breaking-down n. the action of converting a log into sawn timber; also attributive; cf. to break down 6 at break v. Phrasal verbs and breakdown n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > initial cutting from logs
breaking-down1883
breakdown1923
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > [noun] > incohesion > disaggregation or disintegration
unravelling1606
disgregation1611
disintegration1794
break-up1795
disaggregation1819
breaking-down1883
break-away1885
breakdown1928
1883 M. P. Bale Saw-mills xxxviii. 331 Breaking down, in sawing, is dividing the baulk into boards or planks.
1913 A. I. Carr Country Work & Life N.Z. xxiv. 40 ‘Breast’ benches (where the flitches from the breaking-down saw are cut into commercial sizes) are still used in many mills.
1922 R. C. Bryant Lumber iv. 81 The breaking down of the log continued until it was reduced to a size which could be worked by the saws C and D.
1949 E. de Mauny Huntsman in Career 162 The scream of the bandsaws on the breaking-down bench.
breaking-down rollers n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > rolling equipment > roller or set of
roll1410
breaking-down rollers1839
planishing roller1839
plate roll1861
stand1873
bending rolls1874
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 860 Two pairs of rollers, which, from being used to consolidate the metal by rolling whilst hot, are termed breaking-down rollers.
breaking-engine n. (a) in paper-manufacture, a machine for washing and pulping rags, a breaker; (b) in woollen-manufacture, a carding-machine.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > for pulping
beater1825
beating-engine1825
rag engine1825
stuff engine1839
poacher1866
poaching engine1870
breaking-enginea1877
Hollander1878
breaker1880
kollergang1890
pulp stone1892
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > combing > machine
carding engine1776
carding machine1779
towing-mill1789
comber1831
breaker1875
breaking-enginea1877
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. Breaking-engine, the first of a series of carding-machines, to receive and act on the lap from the lapper; it has usually coarser clothing than the finishing-cards.
1880 J. Dunbar Pract. Papermaker 71 When furnished in the breaking-engine, wash thoroughly before letting down the roll.
breaking-frame n. a machine for drawing out the slivers in spinning wool.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > machine > types of > parts of
mendoza1803
faller1807
headstock1825
rim wheel1827
traveller1830
ring spindle1837
carrying comb1844
whirler1860
coiler1873
breaking-frame1875
nosing motion1883
tube1884
weigh-box1884
check-band1892
presser eye1892
thread-board1892
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 1163 The slivers..are drawn out and extended by the rollers of the breaking-frame.
breaking-off n. the removal of the piece of surplus metal from newly-cast type; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > [noun]
lissc1000
ceasec1330
stintc1330
stinting1338
ceasinga1340
discontinuancea1398
cessationa1400
leaving-off?a1425
surceasingc1435
disusage1475
stop1483
staying1546
discontinuation1572
discontinuing1582
surcease1590
stintance1605
cessure1607
desisting1607
avocationa1617
desistance1632
sistencea1639
surceasementa1641
supersession1648
dispractice1673
breaking-off1683
estoppage1701
cess1703
cesser1809
shutdown1857
stoppage1865
shut-off1889
sign-off1919
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > [noun] > pause
breathing placea1586
breathing part1644
breaking-off1683
pause1933
society > communication > printing > type founding > [noun] > superfluous metal on type > removal of surplus metal from new type
breaking-off1683
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 176 Breaking off is commonly Boys-work: It is only to Break the Break from the Shanck of the Letter.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1261 From the breaking-off boy the types are taken to the rubber.
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §279 Breaker.., breaker-off, breaker-off boy [also breaking-off boy], breaks off superfluous wedge-shaped piece of metal, which adheres to lower surface of type when type leaves casting machine, by pressing lower surface of type against table.
breaking-point n. (a) the point, or degree of stress, at which a particular material breaks; (b) figurative the point at which a person's strength or endurance fails, or at which a situation becomes critical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > oppression, persecution, or affliction > point at which endurance fails
breaking-point1899
snapping-point1933
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > stress or force exerted and tending to deform > [noun] > breaking stress or strain
breaking-strain1886
breaking-point1899
breaking-stress1940
1899 I. Pitman Key to Business Corr. 23 The breaking point of the yarn is guaranteed to be not less than 36 pounds weight for 120 yards.
1908 H. G. Wells War in Air iv. 102 Elaborating the apparatus of war, until the accumulating tensions should reach the breaking-point.
1908 H. G. Wells War in Air xi. 353 Under the stresses of the war their endurance reached the breaking point.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiii. [Nausicaa] 355 Transparent stockings, stretched to breaking point.
breaking-rollers n. an apparatus for the mechanical kneading of dough.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > [noun] > baker's equipment > kneading machine
brakec1440
bread brake1564
dough brake1589
breaking-rollers1845
kneader1851
1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 5th Ser. 24 The dough is..placed under the breaking-rollers..which perform the office of kneading.
1888 Burt Stand. Timber Meas. 312 Table of Breaking Strains.
breaking-strain n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > stress or force exerted and tending to deform > [noun] > breaking stress or strain
breaking-strain1886
breaking-point1899
breaking-stress1940
1886 S. W. Mitchell Roland Blake xix. 181 The engineer speaks of the breaking-strain in material; the breaking-strain in morals was near for Octopia.
breaking-strength n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > stress or force exerted and tending to deform > [noun] > resistance to shear or breaking
breaking-strength1902
shear strength1931
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 11/2 A medium steel..showed a breaking strength of 39 tons per square inch.
1960 B.S.I. News Jan. 2 The belt has a breaking strength of 2 tons and weighs only a little over 2 lb.
breaking-stress n. the strain or stress required to break a particular material or object.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > stress or force exerted and tending to deform > [noun] > breaking stress or strain
breaking-strain1886
breaking-point1899
breaking-stress1940
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 111/1 Breaking stress.
1959 Chambers's Encycl. XIII. 224/2 Once the breaking stress has been measured it is easy to calculate the permitted working stress by dividing by the appropriate factor of safety.
Draft additions January 2011
breaking capacity n. the degree to which a circuit-breaker or fuse can withstand a current surge, expressed as the lowest current that will cause it to trip.
ΚΠ
1890 Electr. Engineer 20 Aug. 187/2 Next in importance to [current] carrying capacity should be the breaking capacity.
1935 Science 8 Nov. 7/2 (advt.) High breaking capacity—the mercury tube now used in this relay will carry and break 15 amperes at 115 volts a-c.
2002 B. Fitt & J. Thornley Lighting Technol. (ed. 2) viii. 135 We would have to back up the mcb with a fuse with a breaking capacity in excess of 8000 A.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
breakingadj.
/ˈbreɪkɪŋ/ 1.
a. That breaks, in various senses (chiefly intransitive) of the verb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [adjective]
ruptive?a1425
chinking1578
breaking1597
chapping1610
obrumpent1656
disrumpent1657
snapping1823
fracturing1830
disrupting1849
disruptic1889
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > [adjective] > breaking
breaking1597
combing1857
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > dawn > [adjective] > becoming day
dawingc1400
dawning1594
breaking1713
dawned1818
adawn1904
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > broken-heartedness > [adjective] > breaking (of the heart)
breaking1814
society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > [adjective] > going bankrupt
breaking1821
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [adjective] > types of delivery or ball
wide1827
shooting1833
full-pitched1834
bumping1851
overpitched1855
hand over head1862
bumpy1864
right arm1877
breaking1881
fast-breaking1893
leg-breaking1896
hittable1898
off-breaking1904
inswinging1920
underpitched1927
outswinging1929
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. ii. 3 Your late tossing on the breaking seas. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) ii. ii. 129 A drop of water in the breaking gulfe. View more context for this quotation
1655 S. Ashe Funeral Serm. 18th June 11 He was ready to fall upon idolatrous Israel with breaking blowes.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 51 Beams differently breaking or refrangible.
1678 T. Manton Wks. (1871) II. 190 His ruinous and breaking condition.
1713 E. Young Poem on Last Day ii. 34 Breaking Dawn Rouz'd the broad Front.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Ecume, The froth or foam of a breaking sea.
1814 R. Southey Roderick xxiv Within her breaking heart.
1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto V cliv. 212 To save the credit of their breaking bank.
1881 Daily News 9 July 2 Lucas was bowled for a breaking ball.
b. with down, in, up, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > initiating or causing to begin > [adjective]
initiatory1615
initiative1795
ice-breaking1824
breaking1853
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > [adjective] > failing > of a system
breaking1853
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > [adjective] > incohesive > relating to disintegration > disintegrating
breaking1853
disintegrant1866
disintegrative1869
disintegrating1872
disintegratory1878
disintegrous1885
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxxviii. 347 The first breaking-in day of Spring.
1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 237 An apparently crazy and breaking-up constitution displays itself most clearly.
1879 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times II. 306 The confusion was that of a breaking-down system.
2. In combination with nouns, as heart-breaking, etc.
ΚΠ
1874 T. B. Aldrich Prudence Palfrey vii. 123 It was heart-breaking work sometimes, and back-breaking work always.
3. breaking-joint: see joint n.1 4b.
Draft additions June 2016
Of a news story: that is currently occurring or developing or has very recently taken place; see also late-breaking adj. at late adv. Compounds 1d.
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1877 Sterling (Illinois) Daily Gaz. 6 Dec. The large group of special correspondents..furnish the readers..[with] the most important or breaking news events of the day.
1940 Barron's 9 Sept. 4/1 The strategy of our canniest political Quarterback [sc. President Roosevelt]..will be to blanket the front pages with ‘breaking news’.
1985 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Nov. (Eastern ed.) The first reporter to a telephone usually beats the competition on a breaking story.
2014 C. Seife Virtual Unreality vii. 124 The Google News bots had to crawl likely sources of breaking news almost constantly.
Draft additions June 2016
breaking ball n. Baseball a pitch thrown in such a way that the ball drops or curves just before reaching the batter.
ΚΠ
1907 Sunday Post (Boston) 17 Mar. 16/6 It [sc. the spitball] is nothing more than a quick breaking ball, always low.
1988 R. Angell Season Ticket xiii. 322 Knepper had been throwing him breaking balls all afternoon (he'd nubbed one down the third-base line).
2000 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 7 Aug. c5 I don't like to hit breaking balls. I like to hit fastballs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.c975
adj.1597