breach

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breach¹

  • /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/ UK
  • [ˈbɹʷɪi̯t͡ʃ] UK
  • /ˈbɹit͡ʃ/ Canada, US
  • /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/ Australia
  • [ˈbɹʷɪi̯t͡ʃ] Australia
  • /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/ New Zealand

Sounds like breech · Rhymes with -iːtʃ

Where it comes from

From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”).

noun breaches

  1. A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead."

    Similar: break, rupture, fissure

  2. The act of breaking, in a figurative sense. But were the poet to make a total difression from his subject, and introduce a new actor, nowise connected with the personages, the imagination, feeling a breach in transition, would enter coldly into the new scene;
  3. A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment. breach of promise
  4. A breaking up of amicable relations, a falling out. There's fallen between him and my lord / An unkind breach.
  5. figuratively A difference in opinions, social class, etc. For London to have its own exclusive immigration policy would exacerbate the sense that immigration benefits only certain groups and disadvantages the rest. It would entrench the gap between London and the rest of the nation. And it would widen the breach between the public and the elite that has he
  6. A breaking of waters, as over a vessel or a coastal defence; the waters themselves. A clear breach is when the waves roll over the vessel without breaking. A clean breach is when everything on deck is swept away.

    Similar: surge, surf

  7. A breaking out upon; an assault. And Dauid was diſpleaſed, becauſe the Lord had made a breach vpon Uzza; wherefore that place is called Perez-Uzza, to this day.
  8. archaic A bruise; a wound. An vncouth paine torments my grieued ſoule, And death arreſts the organe of my voyce. Who entring at the breach thy ſword hath made, Sackes euery vaine and artier of my heart, […]
  9. archaic A hernia; a rupture.

Similar: break, gap, rift, rupture

verb breaches · breaching · breached

  1. transitive To make a breach in. They breached the outer wall, but not the main one.
  2. transitive To violate or break. breach an agreement
  3. transitive, of the sea To break into a ship or into a coastal defence. On this occasion, the damage was far more serious. The sea wall was breached completely for a distance of over 50 yd., and the gap had to be bridged by a temporary timber viaduct.
  4. intransitive To suffer a breach. Picard: We don't have time for this! The Pasteur’s core is going to breach!
  5. intransitive, of a whale or other sea creature To leap out of the water. The fearless whale-fishermen now found themselves in the midst of the monsters; ... some ... came jumping into the light of day, head uppermost, exhibiting their entire bodies in the sun, and falling on their sides into the water with the weight of a hundred tons, and thus "breaching" with a crash t
  6. informal, passive, transitive, usually To charge, convict or take legal action against someone due to not meeting a legal obligation. […]the Pre-Sentence Report states that: "He was breached by the probation officer within several months of the commencement of the Probation Order for failing to report as he relocated to another Province and did not report there as directed.[…]"

BREACH²

Where it comes from

Short for browser reconnaissance and exfiltration via adaptive compression of hypertext, chosen to spell the word breach.

proper noun

  1. A particular security exploit against HTTPS when using HTTP compression, based on the CRIME exploit.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: rupture, break, gap, rift, falling out, severance, transgress, offend, infract, violate, go against, fracture, breakage, breaking, crack, burst

noun

Similar: break, gap, rift, rupture

Translations

Every language

noun breaking of waves

Españolquebrada, saltación afuera del agua, salto fuera del agua
DeutschBrechen

noun a gap or opening made by breaking or battering

Españolbrecha, batería, boquete, adentramiento, expugnación
हिन्दीदरार darār
Portuguêsbrecha, fissura
Françaisbrèche
DeutschBruch, Bresche
Italianobreccia
Русскийбрешь brešʹ, проло́м prolóm

noun figuratively: the act of breaking

Españolbrecha
Portuguêsbrecha
DeutschBruch
Italianobreccia
Românăbreșă
Русскийразры́в razrýv, невыполне́ние nevypolnénije, наруше́ние narušénije

noun break of a law or obligation

Españolbrecha
हिन्दीउल्लंघन ullaṅghan, अतिक्रम atikram, अतिचार aticār
Portuguêsinfração, violação
Françaisinfraction, violation, bris
DeutschVerstoß
Italianoinfrazione, violazione
Românăîncălcare
Русскийнаруше́ние narušénije
العربيةخَرْق ḵarq

noun breaking up of amicable relations

हिन्दीविच्छेद vicched
Portuguêstérmino
Françaisbrouille
DeutschBruch
Русскийразры́в отноше́ний razrýv otnošénij

noun assault

Españolbrecha
Русскийштурм šturm

verb to make a breach in

Españoladentrarse en, mellar, abrir brecha, expugnar

verb of a whale, to leap clear

Españolsaltar afuera del agua, saltar fuera del agua

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Cite this
MLA

"breach." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/breach. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

breach. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/breach

Chicago

"breach." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/breach.

BibTeX
@misc{breach_2026,
  title = {breach},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/breach},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}