break up meaning

break up as a verb

1. to cause to separate and go in different directions
   • She waved her hand and scattered the crowds

   Synonyms: disperse, dissipate, dispel, scatter

   Type of: separate

   Kinds: disband

2. discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
   • The business partners broke over a tax question
   • The couple separated after 25 years of marriage
   • My friend and I split up

   Synonyms: separate, part, split up, split, break

   Kinds: give the axe, disunify, disassociate, break with, divorce, secede, break

   Related forms: breakup

3. come apart
   • the group broke up

   Type of: separate

   Kinds: disband

   Related forms: breakup

4. break violently or noisily; smash

   Synonyms: crash, break apart

   Type of: disintegrate

5. make a break in
   • We interrupt the program for the following messages

   Synonyms: interrupt, disrupt, cut off

   Type of: break

   Kinds: cut, punctuate, break, put away, pause, chime in, burst in on, heckle, interject, jam, stop, take off

6. cause to go into a solution
   • The recipe says that we should dissolve a cup of sugar in two cups of water

   Synonyms: dissolve, resolve

   Type of: change integrity

   Kinds: melt, cut

7. suffer a nervous breakdown

   Synonyms: crack up, crack, crock up, collapse

   Type of: suffer

8. take apart into its constituent pieces

   Synonyms: disassemble, dismantle, take apart, break apart

   Type of: destroy

   Kinds: strike

9. destroy the completeness of a set of related items
   • The book dealer would not break the set

   Synonyms: break

   Type of: change

10. set or keep apart
    • sever a relationship

    Synonyms: sever

    Type of: separate

11. attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example
    • Pick open the ice

    Synonyms: pick

    Type of: pierce

12. release ice
    • The icebergs and glaciers calve

    Synonyms: calve

    Type of: separate

13. close at the end of a session
    • The court adjourned

    Synonyms: adjourn, recess

    Type of: end

14. bring the association of to an end or cause to break up
    • The decree officially dissolved the marriage
    • the judge dissolved the tobacco company

    Synonyms: dissolve

    Type of: end

15. come to an end
    • Their marriage dissolved
    • The tobacco monopoly broke up

    Synonyms: dissolve

    Type of: end

16. break or cause to break into pieces
    • The plate fragmented

    Synonyms: fragment, fragmentize, fragmentise

    Type of: break

    Kinds: atomize, grind, pound, sunder, splinter, rag, crumb, brecciate, crush, grate

17. cause to separate
    • break up kidney stones
    • disperse particles

    Synonyms: disperse, scatter

    Type of: change integrity

    Kinds: backscatter

18. separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts

    Synonyms: decompose, break down

    Type of: separate

    Kinds: digest, dissociate, crack

19. laugh unrestrainedly

    Synonyms: crack up

    Type of: laugh

How to pronounce break up

break up is pronounced /breɪk ʌp/ in British English and /breɪk ʌp/ in American English. It has 2 syllables.