coffee break
20
1.0
- noun
- /ˈkɔːfi breɪk/
:
pausa para el café
- Larry insisted that we all take our fifteen-minute coffee break and our half-hour lunch together whenever possible.
- coffee break and exhibits
Is that like the coffee break was created so that people would drink coffee?
- Is that like the coffee break was created so that people would drink coffee?
- Now, obviously, other things that we've seen is the fact that we are about halfway through the podcast, so it's time to go for another coffee break.
- So Jerome can actually rest his arm and he just has to go coffee break.
Examples
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At the office, we enjoy our coffee break every morning at ten.
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Everybody, take a five-minute coffee break.
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OK, little coffee break before we get started.
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All right, we'll do it during our coffee break tomorrow.
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You took a coffee break an hour ago.
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This is your coffee break.
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Time for a coffee break before you rush off?
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Looks like the coffee break's over.
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So why don't we take our little coffee break here and you can feel free to ask questions during the break.
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Her first week on the job, during a coffee break, Leslie told her fellow employees a joke.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A short rest from work or activity
1
1.3
A short informal break at work to drink tea or another drink
1
3.0
A short break to breathe and rest
1
9.8
A short break at work to smoke or have a drink
A short pause to use the toilet or have a brief rest
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a short break to have coffee or refreshments' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'coffee' (the beverage) with 'break' (a short rest); the constituents together straightforwardly specify the purpose of the pause. This is a common, literal workplace collocation with cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Coffee break comes from workplaces where people stopped work for a short break to drink coffee and rest. That's why it now means 'a short break from work to have coffee or other refreshments'.