to break the mold
8
5.3
- idiom
- /breɪk ðə moʊld/
:
romper el molde
- Lesya Lysyj: We're trying to break the mold in beer marketing.
- break the mold of traditional
- completely break the mold
I stand, breaking the mold they try to cast from me.
- I stand, breaking the mold they try to cast from me.
- And it centers around this guy Dynamo, who is kind of trying to break the mold a little bit.
- But I'm also here to break the mold of what we should or shouldn't be because you can do it all and be at all.
- As I said, he broke the mold becoming a businessman and he became like my, my mom didn't marry a rich guy.
Examples
-
I rarely find staffing decisions to be of any interest, but this one breaks the mold for me.
Blog text (30) -
In the process, these elderly survivors have broken the mold, challenging traditional theories of longevity and human lifespan.
Blog text (24) -
Leading Learning breaks the mold for standards documents.
Academic text (2015) -
The Dutch swap has broken the mold in several interesting ways.
Academic text (1990) -
Top high school athletes are often courted by several schools, but Jen broke the mold.
Blog text (7) -
I love it when advertisers break the mold, think outside the box, and create adverts like these.
Blog text (3) -
I applaud your motivating stories and encouragement to break the mold society has created for us.
Blog text (31) -
John XXIII broke the mold when he called the Council in the absence of a serious, ongoing doctrinal dispute.
Blog text (10) -
The new smartphone design aims to break the mold by integrating advanced AI features that competitors have not considered.
-
His unique approach to education is set to break the mold and inspire other teachers to adopt more innovative methods.
Synonyms
33
7.3
To try new ideas that go beyond accepted limits
8
7.4
To do something very different from what most people expect or usually do
4
5.3
To do something new first so other people can follow
3
6.9
To do something different from what most people do
1
5.6
Introducing new ideas or methods that change a field
Think in a new way instead of your usual way
Antonyms
How Original
55
6.6
8
5.3
39
5.5
178
3.2
1
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a clear metaphor — literally breaking a form or pattern — so a learner who recognizes 'mold' as an established form/type can map 'break' onto departing from that form and infer the meaning. However, the abstract sense of 'mold' and the conventionalized figurative use make the meaning partly metaphorical and not fully predictable without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Break the mold comes from making things with a mold, a shape used to make many copies; to make a different object you would have to break the mold and change the form. So, the phrase means 'to do something new or different'.