Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
💔 To end a relationship 👥 To end a group 🪨 To separate parts 😢 To lose control 📡 To interrupt 😂 To laugh hard
to break up

to break up

9 3.0
Start laughing very hard and cannot stop
  • phrasal verb
  • /breɪk ʌp/
  • Informal
translation icon : echarse a reír
  • Brutus tapped a huge finger between his blue eyes, then broke up laughing.
  • break up laughing
  • broke up in laughter

Hey man, that's breaking up beautifully boy that's funny bro.

Examples

  • The entire group breaks up in laughter.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I was about to break up laughing, but decided to play along for bigger laughs later.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Everyone broke up laughing, and any lingering discomfort over seeing our friend tethered to an IV was gone.

    Blog text (13)

  • Usually unflappable, Susskind was breaking up as George Segal lovingly blew thick clouds of cigar smoke into the host's face.

    Academic text (2010)

  • When she heard the punchline, she couldn't help but break up laughing.

  • The comedian's jokes were so funny that the audience started to break up laughing.

  • At the movie's climax, everyone in the theater began to break up laughing uncontrollably.

Synonyms

to crack up
vsto break up
  • Informal
18 3.5

To laugh loudly and without control

is mainly about the moment of beginning loud uncontrollable laughter
to burst out
vsto break up
9 3.3

Suddenly say something or make a loud sound

is specifically about starting loud uncontrollable laughter rather than any sudden expression
to burst out laughing
vsto break up
  • Informal
8 2.4

To suddenly start laughing loudly and not be able to stop

is a broader term for beginning loud uncontrollable laughter in many situations
to laugh one's head off
vsto break up
  • Informal
1 3.5

To make loud sounds you cannot stop because something is very funny

focuses on starting loud uncontrollable laughter rather than the ongoing reaction
to split one's sides
vsto break up
  • Informal
1 5.6

To laugh very hard

is about beginning loud uncontrollable laughter rather than only expressing extreme amusement
to rolf
vsto break up
  • Slang
1 9.7

To laugh very hard at something funny online

is similar but applies in many contexts beyond online reactions
to giggle uncontrollably
vsto break up
1 4.0

To laugh in a way you cannot stop because you find something very funny or feel embarrassed

is louder and more intense rather than a light high pitched silly laugh
to convulse with laughter
vsto break up
4.5

Laugh so hard that your body shakes

is loud or uncontrollable laughter that does not necessarily include bodily shaking
to gag with laughter
vsto break up
  • Informal
6.5

To laugh so hard you almost choke

is loud uncontrollable laughter but without implying being physically overwhelmed or choked
to ROFL
vsto break up
  • Slang
8.8

To laugh very hard, often at something funny online

is used mainly for written online reactions rather than audible real laughter

Antonyms

seriousness
53 2.7

A calm and honest way of speaking or acting that shows you mean what you say

to hold back one's laughter
3.7

To stop yourself from making a sound when something is funny

How Loud

to roar
17 2.4
to break up
  • Informal
9 3.0
to laugh
∞ 1.0
to chuckle
237 2.0

Surface Forms

break up infinitive
breaking up present participle
breaks up third person singular
broke up past
broken up past participle

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 for laughing comes from the idea of break and up as a sudden loss of control, like a calm face suddenly breaking into pieces of sound. So it means 'to begin laughing uncontrollably'.