to break apart
26
3.0
- phrasal verb
- /breɪk əˈpɑrt/
:
romperse
- After years of tension, the group decided to break apart and pursue their own interests.
- threaten to break apart
- begin to break apart
Both neck and Hot Toys made clay sculpts and then broke them apart to cast them and paint them.
- Both neck and Hot Toys made clay sculpts and then broke them apart to cast them and paint them.
- Then my family will be broken apart.
- So one of the weapons was a cast iron skillet which broke apart.
- So that's how I break apart my savings and investments.
- That the cause, the shit I'm trying to break apart Tom is generational shit.
- And so we're going to break apart why obesity is so unhealthy.
Examples
-
Instead of coalescing into coherent, functioning states, they are at risk of breaking apart.
Academic text (2004) -
The jungle began to break apart shortly after midday, the ground turning solid again.
Fiction book (1992) -
Listen, Nick, families break apart all the time.
-
Somewhere along the way, we started to break apart.
-
Things are breaking apart back home.
-
We had to do it to stay alive and keep the ship from breaking apart.
Fiction book (2002) -
Minutes after the collision, the ship broke apart and sank, pulling many down with it.
Academic text (2013) -
It is so dry and so brittle that it breaks apart as I'm trying to remove it.
-
When the old tree was struck by lightning, it broke apart into several large pieces.
-
During the debate, their differences became clear, causing the coalition to break apart.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To change a large bill into smaller bills
∞
1.0
To pull something so it breaks into pieces
513
1.3
To break something into two or more parts
297
1.9
To break into parts or pieces
241
2.9
To separate and move in different directions after being together
213
2.8
To separate something into smaller parts to explain or study it
155
2.8
To break into pieces or stop working properly
72
2.8
To break suddenly into many small pieces, like glass
66
2.7
Separate something into smaller pieces
64
4.2
Take something apart into separate pieces
50
3.0
To separate something into parts so it can be moved or fixed
47
2.6
To divide something into smaller parts
44
3.1
To break into pieces or fall into separate parts
39
3.7
To break into small pieces or make something break apart
39
2.7
To rip something into small pieces
35
5.8
Fall apart into smaller pieces or stop working together
21
3.2
To break something into pieces by hand
21
3.9
To break into many small, sharp pieces like wood or glass
19
3.8
To take something apart into separate pieces
16
4.0
To come apart from something it is connected to
9
9.0
To divide something into parts, often breaking a company or country
5
4.7
To damage something very badly so it breaks into pieces
5
5.3
To disconnect two things that are joined, often machine parts
5
7.2
To fall apart or stop working properly after being stable
1
9.9
To cut or separate something into parts, often by breaking it
1
7.9
To make a group that was together become divided
To tear something into separate parts, usually by force
To break something into many small pieces
Antonyms
How Broken
35
5.8
72
2.8
26
3.0
155
2.8
513
1.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to separate into pieces' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'break' (to cause separation) with 'apart' (into separate pieces or parts). This verb + particle composition is a common, literal pattern in English (and in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb break apart comes from the clear image of something being split so pieces move away: break means to split and apart means into separate parts. That's why it means 'to separate into pieces' or for a group to 'fall apart' and stop being together.