7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break
the British squares.
8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
Prescott.
9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.
11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
An old man, broken with the storms of state.
Shak.
12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.
I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
Dryden.
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.
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.
Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
Shak.
15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.
With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks,
Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
Dryden.
16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
I see a great officer broken.
Swift.
With prepositions or adverbs: —
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 "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.]
With an immediate object: —
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.
