(n)interruption, breaksome abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity“the telephone is an annoying interruption”, “there was a break in the action when a player was hurt”
(n)fault, faulting, geological fault, shift, fracture, break(geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other“they built it right over a geological fault”, “he studied the faulting of the earth's crust”
(n)break, interruption, disruption, gapan act of delaying or interrupting the continuity“it was presented without commercial breaks”, “there was a gap in his account”
(v)transgress, offend, infract, violate, go against, breach, breakact 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”
(v)break, break out, break awaymove away or escape suddenly“The horses broke from the stable”, “Three inmates broke jail”, “Nobody can break out--this prison is high security”
(v)break in, breakenter 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?”
(v)unwrap, disclose, let on, bring out, reveal, discover, expose, divulge, break, give away, let out, uncovermake 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”, “The newspaper uncovered the President's illegal dealings”
(v)fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break downstop 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”
(v)separate, part, split up, split, break, break updiscontinue 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”
(v)demote, bump, relegate, break, kick downstairsassign to a lower position; reduce in rank“She was demoted because she always speaks up”, “He was broken down to Sergeant”
(v)bankrupt, ruin, break, smashreduce to bankruptcy“My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!”, “The slump in the financial markets smashed him”
(v)collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, break, founderbreak 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”
(v)break, wear, wear out, bust, fall apartgo to pieces“The lawn mower finally broke”, “The gears wore out”, “The old chair finally fell apart completely”