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This tool relates English terms to concepts from the SUMO ontology by means of mappings to WordNet synsets.


English Word: 
According to WordNet, the verb"break" has 59 sense(s).

200030463 weaken or destroy in spirit or body; "His resistance was broken"; "a man broken by the terrible experience of near-death".

200107604 diminish or discontinue abruptly; "The patient's fever broke last night".

200107739 fracture a bone of; "I broke my foot while playing hockey".

200155046 fall sharply; "stock prices broke".

200202569 make submissive, obedient, or useful; "The horse was tough to break"; "I broke in the new intern".

200202784 be broken in; "If the new teacher won't break, we'll add some stress".

200258366 crack; of the male voice in puberty; "his voice is breaking--he should no longer sing in the choir".

200258665 render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!".

200334186 become separated into pieces or fragments; "The figurine broke"; "The freshly baked loaf fell apart".

200334996 destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments; "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match".

200336260 become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated".

200339464 happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time".

200362348 prevent completion; "stop the project"; "break off the negotiations".

200364064 terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky streak"; "break the cycle of poverty".

200390215 lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall".

200434374 stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident".

200551412 change suddenly from one tone quality or register to another; "Her voice broke to a whisper when she started to talk about her children".

200558536 come into being; "light broke over the horizon"; "Voices broke in the air".

200738314 find the solution or key to; "break the code".

200738440 find a flaw in; "break an alibi"; "break down a proof".

200744439 undergo breaking; "The simple vowels broke in many Germanic languages".

200778745 interrupt the flow of current in; "break a circuit".

200779061 cease an action temporarily; "We pause for station identification"; "let's break for lunch".

200933821 make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case".

200935987 be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning".

201106864 surpass in excellence; "She bettered her own record"; "break a record".

201228396 pierce or penetrate; "The blade broke her skin".

201228524 become punctured or penetrated; "The skin broke".

201298931 break a piece from a whole; "break a branch from a tree".

201369346 go to pieces; "The lawn mower finally broke"; "The gears wore out"; "The old chair finally fell apart completely".

201369758 ruin completely; "He busted my radio!".

201557646 separate from a clinch, in boxing; "The referee broke the boxers".

201597995 make the opening shot that scatters the balls.

201610463 destroy the completeness of a set of related items; "The book dealer would not break the set".

201610666 exchange for smaller units of money; "I had to break a $100 bill just to buy the candy".

201785395 force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger".

201896484 do a break dance; "Kids were break-dancing at the street corner".

201972976 curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves; "The surf broke".

201989053 break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice".

201991347 emerge from the surface of a body of water; "The whales broke".

202029369 scatter or part; "The clouds broke after the heavy downpour".

202030764 make a rupture in the ranks of the enemy or one's own by quitting or fleeing; "The ranks broke".

202073233 move away or escape suddenly; "The horses broke from the stable"; "Three inmates broke jail"; "Nobody can break out--this prison is high security".

202101373 change directions suddenly.

202318165 reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him".

202399331 assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sergeant".

202431320 discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up".

202478469 invalidate by judicial action; "The will was broken".

202535716 interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns".

202559395 cause the failure or ruin of; "His peccadilloes finally broke his marriage"; "This play will either make or break the playwright".

202566528 act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises; "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law"; "break a promise".

202570684 enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act; "Someone broke in while I was on vacation"; "They broke into my car and stole my radio!"; "who broke into my account last night?".

202600082 happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months".

202625187 come forth or begin from a state of latency; "The first winter storm broke over New York".

202668523 fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax".

202681524 give up; "break cigarette smoking".

202681639 cause to give up a habit; "She finally broke herself of smoking cigarettes".

202746449 vary or interrupt a uniformity or continuity; "The flat plain was broken by tall mesas".

202746617 come to an end; "The heat wave finally broke yesterday".

Explore the word break on the WordNet web site.


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