break up

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break up

verb breaks up · breaking up · broke up · broken up · break-up

transitive To break or separate into pieces. Break up the cheese and put it in the salad.
intransitive To break or separate into pieces; to disintegrate or come apart. It broke up when it hit the ground.
transitive To upset greatly; to cause great emotional disturbance or unhappiness in. "I remember his wail at the meeting, which began: 'In fifty years experience of scientific intercourse----' It quite broke the old man up."
idiomatic, intransitive To end a (usually romantic or sexual) relationship. She broke up with her boyfriend last week.
intransitive, reciprocal To end a (usually romantic or sexual) relationship with each other. Jane and Stephen broke up.
idiomatic, intransitive To dissolve; to part. The meeting finally broke up after a three-hour discussion.
idiomatic, intransitive Of a school, to close for the holidays at the end of term. Once the schools break up for the holidays, children across the country are at a loose end and instances of kids doing stupid things on the railway become far too common.
intransitive Of a conversation, to cease to be understandable because of a bad connection; of a signal, to deteriorate. You're breaking up. Can you repeat that? Well, it got cut off.
idiomatic, transitive To stop a fight; to separate people who are fighting. The police came in to break up the disturbance.
figuratively, idiomatic, intransitive To become disorganised. England's superior conditioning began to show in the final quarter and as the game began to break up, their three-quarters began to stamp their authority on the game. And when Foden went on a mazy run from inside his own 22 and put Ashton in for a long-range try, any threat of an upset was when and
transitive To cut or take to pieces for scrap. Ex-Brighton "I4" 4-4-2 tank No. 2034, the last of its class, and "02" 0-4-4 tank No. 214 have been broken up.
idiomatic, intransitive, slang, transitive To be or cause to be overcome with laughter.

noun break ups · break-up

alternative Alternative form of breakup

Translations

Every language

verb to end a relationship

Español	terminar, romper, partir peras, separarse
한국어	헤어지다 heeojida
日本語	別れる wakareru, 手を切る te o kiru
中文	分手 fēnshǒu, 分開 /分开 fēnkāi, 吹 chuī
Português	terminar, acabar
Français	rompre, casser
Deutsch	auseinander gehen, Schluss machen
Italiano	rompere, terminare, lasciarsi, separarsi
Русский	расходи́ться rasxodítʹsja, разойти́сь razojtísʹ, расстава́ться rasstavátʹsja, расста́ться rasstátʹsja
Tiếng Việt	chia tay

verb transitive: to break or separate into pieces

Español	separar, cisionar
Français	rompre, couper
Italiano	spezzettare, tagliuzzare, frantumare, dissodare

verb intransitive: to disintegrate

Español	romperse
日本語	壊れる kowareru, 粉砕する funsai-suru
中文	粉碎 fěnsuì, 破碎 pòsuì
Français	se casser, se briser, se rompre
Italiano	disintegrare, rompere, ridurre in mille pezzi, fare a pezzi
Русский	разбива́ться razbivátʹsja, разби́ться razbítʹsja

verb to dissolve; to part

Español	terminar, desarticular
Français	cesser
Italiano	terminare, finere, concludersi

verb of a school, to close for the holidays at the end of term

Italiano	concludersi, completarsi

verb of a telephone conversation, to cease to be understandable because of a bad connection

Français	s'interrompre
Italiano	concludere, terminare, finire, interrompere

verb to stop a fight

Español	separar
Français	mettre fin, mettre un terme
Italiano	separare, dividere

verb to become disorganised

Français	se disperser

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Cite this

MLA

"break up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/break%20up. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

break up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/break%20up

Chicago

"break up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/break%20up.

BibTeX

@misc{break_up_2026,
  title = {break up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/break%20up},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}