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breaking story

breaking story

13 3.2
A news report about an event happening now or that just happened
  • noun
  • /ˈbreɪkɪŋ ˈstɔri/
  • Specialized
translation icon : noticia de última hora
  • Our coverage of this breaking story begins with Jessica Abo at the scene.
  • a late-breaking story
  • breaking story tonight
  • coverage of a breaking story

Examples

Synonyms

flash
vsbreaking story
87 3.4

A short news message giving immediate information

is a more complete report of the same ongoing or recent event
news report
vsbreaking story
  • Literature
68 1.1

A short spoken or written account of recent events in the media

focuses on events happening now or just happened rather than general recency
latest news
vsbreaking story
  • Literature
34 1.0

Most recent information about an event or topic

focuses on a single current event report rather than general developments
news item
vsbreaking story
  • Literature
12 2.0

A short report about one event in a newspaper or on TV

highlights immediacy of an ongoing or just happened event rather than a general report
newsflash
vsbreaking story
  • Literature
11 3.1

A short, sudden announcement about important breaking news

is a fuller report of an event happening now or just happened
news bulletin
vsbreaking story
  • Literature
11 2.9

A short announcement of the latest news on radio or TV

is a report about a current event rather than an official broadcast announcement

How Immediate

breaking story
  • Specialized
13 3.2
news item
  • Literature
12 2.0
news article
  • Literature
18 1.2

Surface Forms

Morphology

break + story

The meaning is directly compositional: 'breaking' (just revealed or currently happening) modifies 'story' to indicate a narrative/report that is newly unfolding or has just been revealed. This follows a common participle + noun pattern and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Breaking story comes from the idea of breaking meaning 'suddenly appearing' and story meaning 'news report', because such news breaks into the regular flow and often interrupts other shows. So a breaking story is a news report about an event that is 'happening now'.