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:

breaking \breaking\ adj.
   1. p. pr. & vb. n. of break, v. i.
      [WordNet 1.5]

   2. (Journalism) Still happening or becoming known at the
      present time; -- used of news reports; as, breaking news;
      a breaking story.
      [PJC]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

breaking \break"ing\ n.
   The act of breaking something.

   Syn: breakage, break.
        [WordNet 1.5]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

breaking
    n 1: the act of breaking something; "the breakage was
         unavoidable" [syn: breakage, break, breaking]

Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BREAKING. Parting or dividing by force and violence a solid substance, or
piercing, penetrating, or bursting through the same.
     2. In cases of burglary and house-breaking, the removal, of any part of
the house, or of the fastenings provided to secure it, with violence and a
felonious intent, is called a breaking.
     3. The breaking is actual, as in the above case; or constructive, as
when the burglar or house-breaker gains an entry by fraud, conspiracy or
threats. 2 Russ. on Cr. 2; 2 Chit. Cr. Law, 1092; 1 Hale, P. C. 553; Alis.
Prin. 282, 291. In England it has been decided that if the sash of a window
be partly open, but not sufficiently so to admit a person, the raising of it
so as to admit a person is not a breaking of the house. 1 Moody, Cr. Cas.
178. No reasons are assigned. It is difficult to conceive, if this case be
law, what further opening will amount to a breaking. But see 1 Moody, Cr.
Cas. 327, 377; and Burglary.