to break up
66
2.7
- phrasal verb
- /breɪk ʌp/
:
romper
- He used a hammer to break up the old concrete before laying down new pavement.
- break up into units
- break up the soil
- break up an enterprise
Originally three books broken up into more books later on.
- Originally three books broken up into more books later on.
- So therefore the condensate wants to break up into two equal parts.
- What TCP does is it breaks that up into a series of packets.
- They can fuse into each other or break up into separate memes.
- But they would be broken up into different casts.
Examples
-
A good idea is to try to break this up into lots of little pieces.
-
It'll be an interesting book, broken up into four segments.
-
Then I just go in, break it up and it turns out just like this.
-
Let me break this integral up into two pieces.
-
Today, the progressive teacher breaks up the subject matter into units and important problems.
Academic text (1995) -
Eventually the steam starts to break up into oxygen and hydrogen.
-
I think it's good to break up that heavy kind of hardscape.
-
So what I can technically do is break this up into fifths.
-
About ten, the gray and purple overcast began to break up and the sun arrived on the beaches.
Fiction book (2000) -
What TCP does is it breaks that up into a series of packets.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To change a large bill into smaller bills
680
1.1
To split something into parts or groups
513
1.3
To break something into two or more parts
297
1.9
To break into parts or pieces
241
2.9
To separate and move in different directions after being together
104
4.4
To cause people and things, like a crowd or fog, to spread over a wide area
89
2.3
To make something into smaller pieces using a knife or tool
72
2.8
To break suddenly into many small pieces, like glass
64
4.2
Take something apart into separate pieces
50
3.0
To separate something into parts so it can be moved or fixed
47
2.6
To divide something into smaller parts
39
2.7
To rip something into small pieces
39
3.7
To break into small pieces or make something break apart
35
5.8
Fall apart into smaller pieces or stop working together
32
1.1
Make something into smaller pieces using scissors or a knife
28
2.8
To make a piece come away from something by hitting or bending it
26
3.0
To separate into pieces, for example a machine or a group
21
3.2
To break something into pieces by hand
21
3.9
To break into many small, sharp pieces like wood or glass
19
3.8
To take something apart into separate pieces
11
6.7
To tear something into pieces or throw it away and start again
9
9.0
To divide something into parts, often breaking a company or country
9
5.5
To break a substance into smaller chemical parts using heat or chemicals
8
4.2
To split something into smaller parts
8
2.8
To tear something into small pieces
5
4.7
To damage something very badly so it breaks into pieces
2
3.5
To come off a larger thing, often because of force or damage
1
3.2
To break something into smaller parts
1
9.9
To cut or separate something into parts, often by breaking it
To break something into many small pieces
To divide something into parts, for example by cutting it or by sharing it among people
To tear something into separate parts, usually by force
Antonyms
How Divided
Surface Forms
Morphology
break + up
The meaning 'to interrupt or bring a pause' is directly derivable from combining 'break' (to stop or interrupt) with the particle 'up', which commonly adds a sense of separation/completion; this verb+particle composition follows a standard and predictable English pattern. Even though 'up' lacks a dictionary entry here, its usual contribution to meaning makes the expression readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
Break up gives a clear, literal image: break something so it splits into parts and up shows the action is complete, like breaking a cookie into pieces. That's why it means 'to separate into smaller parts'.