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Glite Dictionary
to break the Sabbath

to break the Sabbath

8.5
Take part in activities usually not allowed on the Sabbath, like working or traveling
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : violar el Sabbath
  • By turning on the lights and cooking dinner, they were breaking the Sabbath without knowing it.

Examples

  • No one on Todday would break the Sabbath.

    Whisky Galore (2016)

  • Many people believe that working on Sunday means they are breaking the Sabbath.

  • She decided to go grocery shopping, not realizing that she was breaking the Sabbath by doing so.

Antonyms

to observe
93 3.4

To follow a rule or tradition by doing what it asks

Surface Forms

break the Sabbath infinitive
breaking the Sabbath present participle
breaks the Sabbath third person singular
broke the Sabbath past
broken the Sabbath past participle

Morphology

break + the + Sabbath

The phrase is compositionally built from 'break' (to stop, interrupt, or violate) plus 'Sabbath' (a day of rest/worship), so its meaning — to violate or fail to observe the Sabbath — is directly derivable from the constituents. This follows a common verb + noun pattern (e.g., 'break the law', 'break a rule') and is therefore predictable to a B1 learner who knows the component words and the cultural sense of 'Sabbath'.

Etymology

Break the Sabbath comes from old religious rules about a special day of rest called the Sabbath. To break the Sabbath meant to 'break a rule' or stop the rest by doing work or things 'not allowed', so the phrase now means to do activities that are not allowed on that day.