[syn: broken, busted]
12. discontinuous;
- Example: "broken clouds"
- Example: "broken sunshine"
13. lacking a part or parts;
- Example: "a broken set of encyclopedia"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Break \Break\ (br[=a]k), v. t. [imp. broke (br[=o]k), (Obs.
Brake); p. p. Broken (br[=o]"k'n), (Obs. Broke); p. pr.
& vb. n. Breaking.] [OE. breken, AS. brecan; akin to OS.
brekan, D. breken, OHG. brehhan, G. brechen, Icel. braka to
creak, Sw. braka, br[aum]kka to crack, Dan. br[ae]kke to
break, Goth. brikan to break, L. frangere. Cf. Bray to
pound, Breach, Fragile.]
1. To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with
violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal;
to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.
--Shak.
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2. To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a
package of goods.
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3. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or
communicate.
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Katharine, break thy mind to me. --Shak.
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4. To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
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Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . .
To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray.
--Milton
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5. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or
terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to
break one's journey.
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Go, release them, Ariel;
My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore.
--Shak.
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6. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as,
to break a set.
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7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to
pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British
squares.
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8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
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The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments
with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
--Prescott.
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9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller
denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
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10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as,
to break flax.
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11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
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An old man, broken with the storms of state.
--Shak.
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12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a
fall or blow.
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I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
--Dryden.
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13. To impart, as news or information; to broach; -- with to,
and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as,
to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose
cautiously to a friend.
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14. To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to
discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or
saddle. "To break a colt." --Spenser.
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Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
--Shak.
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15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to
ruin.
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With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks,
Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
--Dryden.
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16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to
cashier; to dismiss.
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I see a great officer broken. --Swift.
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Note: With prepositions or adverbs:
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To break down.
(a) To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's
strength; to break down opposition.
(b) To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to
break down a door or wall.
To break in.
(a) To force in; as, to break in a door.
(b) To train; to discipline; as, a horse well broken in.
To break of, to rid of; to cause to abandon; as, to break
one of a habit.
To break off.
(a) To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig.
(b) To stop suddenly; to abandon. "Break off thy sins by
righteousness." --Dan. iv. 27.
To break open, to open by breaking. "Open the door, or I
will break it open." --Shak.
To break out, to take or force out by breaking; as, to
break out a pane of glass.
To break out a cargo, to unstow a cargo, so as to unload it
easily.
To break through.
(a) To make an opening through, as, as by violence or the
force of gravity; to pass violently through; as, to
break through the enemy's lines; to break through the
ice.
(b) To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony.
To break up.
(a) To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow
ground). "Break up this capon." --Shak. "Break up
your fallow ground." --Jer. iv. 3.
(b) To dissolve; to put an end to. "Break up the court."
--Shak.
To break (one) all up, to unsettle or disconcert
completely; to upset. [Colloq.]
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Note: With an immediate object:
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To break the back.
(a) To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally.
(b) To get through the worst part of; as, to break the
back of a difficult undertaking.
To break bulk, to destroy the entirety of a load by
removing a portion of it; to begin to unload; also, to
transfer in detail, as from boats to cars.
To break a code to discover a method to convert coded
messages into the original understandable text.
To break cover, to burst forth from a protecting
concealment, as game when hunted.
To break a deer or To break a stag, to cut it up and
apportion the parts among those entitled to a share.
To break fast, to partake of food after abstinence. See
Breakfast.
To break ground.
(a) To open the earth as for planting; to commence
excavation, as for building, siege operations, and
the like; as, to break ground for a foundation, a
canal, or a railroad.
(b) Fig.: To begin to execute any plan.
(c) (Naut.) To release the anchor from the bottom.
To break the heart, to crush or overwhelm (one) with grief.
To break a house (Law), to remove or set aside with
violence and a felonious intent any part of a house or of
the fastenings provided to secure it.
To break the ice, to get through first difficulties; to
overcome obstacles and make a beginning; to introduce a
subject.
To break jail, to escape from confinement in jail, usually
by forcible means.
To break a jest, to utter a jest. "Patroclus . . . the
livelong day breaks scurril jests." --Shak.
To break joints, to lay or arrange bricks, shingles, etc.,
so that the joints in one course shall not coincide with
those in the preceding course.
To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or contest.
To break the neck, to dislocate the joints of the neck.
To break no squares, to create no trouble. [Obs.]
To break a path, road, etc., to open a way through
obstacles by force or labor.
To break upon a wheel, to execute or torture, as a criminal
by stretching him upon a wheel, and breaking his limbs
with an iron bar; -- a mode of punishment formerly
employed in some countries.
To break wind, to give vent to wind from the anus.
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Syn: To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate;
infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Broken \Bro"ken\ (br[=o]"k'n), a. [From Break, v. t.]
1. Separated into parts or pieces by violence; divided into
fragments; as, a broken chain or rope; a broken dish.
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2. Disconnected; not continuous; also, rough; uneven; as, a
broken surface.
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3. Fractured; cracked; disunited; sundered; strained; apart;
as, a broken reed; broken friendship.
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4. Made infirm or weak, by disease, age, or hardships.
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The one being who remembered him as he been before
his mind was broken. --G. Eliot.
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The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay,
Sat by his fire, and talked the night away.
--Goldsmith.
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5. Subdued; humbled; contrite.
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The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. --Ps. li.
17.
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6. Subjugated; trained for use, as a horse.
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7. Crushed and ruined as by something that destroys hope;
blighted. "Her broken love and life." --G. Eliot.
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8. Not carried into effect; not adhered to; violated; as, a
broken promise, vow, or contract; a broken law.
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9. Ruined financially; incapable of redeeming promises made,
or of paying debts incurred; as, a broken bank; a broken
tradesman.
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10. Imperfectly spoken, as by a foreigner; as, broken
English; imperfectly spoken on account of emotion; as, to
say a few broken words at parting.
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Amidst the broken words and loud weeping of those
grave senators. --Macaulay.
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Broken ground.
(a) (Mil.) Rough or uneven ground; as, the troops were
retarded in their advance by broken ground.
(b) Ground recently opened with the plow.
Broken line (Geom.), the straight lines which join a number
of given points taken in some specified order.
Broken meat, fragments of meat or other food.
Broken number, a fraction.
Broken weather, unsettled weather.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
broken
adj 1: physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked
or split; "a broken mirror"; "a broken tooth"; "a broken
leg"; "his neck is broken" [ant: unbroken]
2: not continuous in space, time, or sequence or varying
abruptly; "broken lines of defense"; "a broken cable
transmission"; "broken sleep"; "tear off the stub above the
broken line"; "a broken note"; "broken sobs" [ant:
unbroken]
3: subdued or brought low in condition or status; "brought low";
"a broken man"; "his broken spirit" [syn: broken,
crushed, humbled, humiliated, low]
4: (especially of promises or contracts) having been violated or
disregarded; "broken (or unkept) promises"; "broken
contracts" [syn: broken, unkept] [ant: kept,
unbroken]
5: tamed or trained to obey; "a horse broken to the saddle";
"this old nag is well broken in" [syn: broken, broken in]
6: topographically very uneven; "broken terrain"; "rugged
ground" [syn: broken, rugged]
7: imperfectly spoken or written; "broken English"
8: thrown into a state of disarray or confusion; "troops fleeing
in broken ranks"; "a confused mass of papers on the desk";
"the small disordered room"; "with everything so upset" [syn:
broken, confused, disordered, upset]
9: weakened and infirm; "broken health resulting from
alcoholism"
10: destroyed financially; "the broken fortunes of the family"
[syn: broken, wiped out(p), impoverished]
11: out of working order (`busted' is an informal substitute for
`broken'); "a broken washing machine"; "the coke machine is
broken"; "the coke machine is busted" [syn: broken,
busted]
12: discontinuous; "broken clouds"; "broken sunshine"
13: lacking a part or parts; "a broken set of encyclopedia"
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):
broken
Not working properly (of programs).
The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
broken
adj.
1. Not working according to design (of programs). This is the mainstream
sense.
2. Improperly designed, This sense carries a more or less disparaging
implication that the designer should have known better, while sense 1
doesn't necessarily assign blame. Which of senses 1 or 2 is intended is
conveyed by context and nonverbal cues.
3. Behaving strangely; especially (when used of people) exhibiting extreme
depression.