broken to pieces
1
3.5
- idiom
- After the storm, the old tree was broken to pieces, leaving only fragments behind.
Examples
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His great-grandmother had held the families together, settled their disputes, softened the words they said to one another in anger, kept the peace, and kept whole what could have broken to pieces.
Fiction book (1998) -
I wanted to see it broken to pieces.
Fiction book (2002) -
He's lying here in the dark with his body-it's broken to pieces.
-
Verse 4: "Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken to pieces; neither could anyone tame him."
Blog text (23) -
The vase fell off the shelf and was completely broken to pieces on the floor.
-
The children's toy was broken to pieces after they accidentally stepped on it.
Synonyms
65
2.8
Very badly damaged and no longer usable, often after a war or storm
45
4.8
Feeling very upset because hopes or feelings are destroyed
40
4.0
Badly damaged after an accident or disaster
29
4.4
Not whole because it is broken into separate parts
6
4.7
Taken apart so it no longer works as a whole
4
5.3
Badly damaged or destroyed, like a building after a disaster
1
9.8
A bone broken into several small pieces that often needs surgery
1
4.8
Become damaged or broken into pieces after a hard hit
Antonyms
How Damaged
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'shattered or reduced to fragments' is directly and compositionally derived from 'broken' (damaged) combined with 'pieces' (fragments), with 'to' functioning as a result/state marker equivalent to 'into'. This literal, imageable construction is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
The phrase broken to pieces comes from the image of something that falls or hits the ground and is broken into many small pieces. That's why it means 'completely destroyed' or 'ruined', and people also use it for feelings or trust that are badly hurt.