Englishfor English speakers
break
Verb
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If you break something, you make it come apart in a way that cannot easily be put back together, usually by force.
He injured his leg and broke his arm during the crash.
When my brother died, my family broke apart.
The airplane broke apart in the sky over Hawai'i.
When the ice broke underneath me, I said to myself, I'm in trouble.
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If something such as a machine breaks, it stops working because something is wrong.
My car breaks down about once a week.
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If you break a law, rule, promise, etc. you do something that you should not do.
The police can't do anything if no laws are broken.
These are the rules. Don't break the rules and I won't send you home.
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If you break a surface, limit, record, etc., you go beyond it.
In 1954 he set a new record of 3:59.4, breaking the old record by more than five minutes.
Wilson broke barriers for women in journalism at a time when newsrooms were mostly male.
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If you break free or out of something, you could not leave but now you leave.
The police are looking for some prisoners who broke out of the jail.
One of the dogs broke loose and ran at her.
When she closed the door, everyone broke into laughter.
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If you break, you stop for a short time to rest.
We break for coffee at 10:00 every morning.
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If day or morning breaks, it begins.
The day was breaking as they packed up the tent.
Dawn was just breaking when Helga Schneider climbed out of bed.
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If you break something, you stop it suddenly.
The sound of the door closing broke the silence.
I didn't know my father, but with my son, I want to break that cycle of fathers leaving their sons.
The show had been so magical that people didn't want to leave the theater, didn't want to break the spell.
Smoking is such a hard habit to break.
Mike had to leave to break up a fight between Ronni and Bridget.
The rain finally broke on Monday evening.
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If news breaks, it becomes known.
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If your voice breaks, it changes because you are almost crying.
"I wanted to say goodbye before he died", she said, her voice breaking.
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If you break some money, you change a note into coins.
I don't want to break a twenty just to buy matches.
break
Noun
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A break is a time when something stops before starting again.
We get a 15-minute break in the middle of the morning.
I'll phone you during my lunch break.
We're going to take a one-minute commercial break and we'll be right back.
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A break (up) is an end of a relationship.
We didn't see each other for years after the break up.
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A break is a space between something continuous.
The sun shone through a break in the clouds.
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A break is a situation in which things are not as difficult.
That job opening up just when she finished school was a lucky break for her.
Give me a break.
The new law would give middle-income families a $2,000 tax break.
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A break is a place where something is broken.
The break in his leg could be seen clearly on the x-ray.
off
Preposition
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Away from somewhere or some time.
I got ready and by 7:00 I was off to school.
There's a nice restaurant just off the main road.
Bye, I'll be off now.
He was standing about 50m off.
Your birthday's only a few days off now.
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If something is off it is not on.
She took the hat off his head.
Keep your feet off the desk, please.
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Out of a vehicle such as a train, bus, etc.
As the train stopped, he jumped off and ran to her.
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If something that uses energy is off, it is not working.
It was dark in the room because the light was off.
He turned the TV off and went to bed.
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If you are off, you do not have to go to work or to school.
I work evenings, but I have my afternoons off.
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made smaller by a certain amount
They've taken 30% off the price.
We cut off a few pieces.
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If a plan, event, etc. is off, it will not happen.
Tonight's game is off because of the rain.
They've called off the meeting.
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If you're off something, you don't like or want something you wanted before.
That article really put me off meat.
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If you're off some medicine, you are not using it any more.
He's been off the pain killers for a few weeks.
off
Adjective
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If food is off, it is not good to eat anymore.
off
Verb
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If a person offs someone, they kill him or her.
I heard they offed Jimmy by drowning.
a
Determinative
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A is used when the following word could be any of a certain type.
Compare "A book I saw on the shelf" and "The book I gave you yesterday".
a
Noun
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A is the first letter of the alphabet.
The letter "a" comes before "b".
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In some schools, an A is a very high grade.
Ron got an A on his earth science test.
conversation
Noun
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A conversation is when two or more people are talking informally.
I had a really interesting conversation at work about how to improve things.
She is very good at making conversation with people she meets.