1
as in to stop
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
the judge broke off court proceedings until after lunch
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to end
to come to an end
talks between the two sides broke off when one began making unreasonable demands
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of break off
Santa Cruz wharf breaks off as series of storms hits West Coast
For the West Coast, the break in wet weather will be brief.
—
Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
Start by breaking off pieces of the outer bread and dipping them in the cheesy middle.
—Melissa Santos, Axios, 18 Dec. 2024
During Trump's first term, his administration implemented harsh sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry, leading Maduro to break off relations in 2019.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 15 Dec. 2024
Throughout the years, vandals have occasionally broken off parts of the left hand, toes and a sphere that the figure originally held.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for break off 
Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
Start by breaking off pieces of the outer bread and dipping them in the cheesy middle.
—Melissa Santos, Axios, 18 Dec. 2024
During Trump's first term, his administration implemented harsh sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry, leading Maduro to break off relations in 2019.
—Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 15 Dec. 2024
Throughout the years, vandals have occasionally broken off parts of the left hand, toes and a sphere that the figure originally held.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for break off
Recent Examples of Synonyms for break off
Verb
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The tentative nature of the detection didn’t stop Liang Fu of MIT and Constantin Schrade of Louisiana State University from trying to explain it.—
Charlie Wood,
WIRED,
12 Jan. 2025
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Then, the winning-ugly model stopped winning and the losses were ugly.—
Matthew Futterman,
The Athletic,
12 Jan. 2025
Verb
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However, in a report ending November 29 of last year, which was only recently published, Fidelity's valuation of Relativity plummeted.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
10 Jan. 2025
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Senior guard/forward Lebron Hill records 20 points and nine rebounds as Morton defeats Lake Central 63-43 on Tuesday to end a 10-game losing streak in the series dating to the 2016-17 season.—
Michael Osipoff,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Jan. 2025
Verb
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One of my favorite coffee shops, Cafe De Leche, which had the most peaceful sunny patio — perfect for reading and catching up with a friend — ceased to exist.—
Cerys Davies,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2025
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Production has ceased on Season 2 of the Big Talk Studios series about an 18th-century highway robber, putting a cast and crew of hundreds out of work with nothing to show for their efforts.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
17 Jan. 2025
Verb
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But bills that aimed to do so expired at the end of the year.—
Anna Clark,
ProPublica,
10 Jan. 2025
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That’s also true of center Jock Landale, but Green’s deal expires this season and thus is more likely to be part of a trade package.—
John Hollinger,
The Athletic,
10 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The Associated Press reported this week that Trump has tasked New Jersey Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew with drafting an executive order to halt offshore wind production nationwide.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
17 Jan. 2025
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TikTok could fade to black in the U.S. in a matter of days after the Supreme Court rejected its appeal to halt a law that will ban the popular video app as of Jan. 19 unless Chinese parent ByteDance sells its stake.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
17 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Biden's latest export controls have led some observers to conclude the government shares the growing sense that AGI is close.—
Scott Rosenberg,
Axios,
17 Jan. 2025
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But most have concluded that justice will never be theirs, that the police have moved on to investigating crimes that receive more public attention, that they have been forgotten.—
Ryan Lillis,
Sacramento Bee,
17 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The report also found that although cases of lung cancer declined overall from 2012 to 2021, the decrease was slower in women — most likely because women were slower to take up heavy smoking and slower to quit, said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society.—
Aria Bendix,
NBC News,
16 Jan. 2025
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In the case of lung cancer, which is predominantly driven by tobacco use, the shift in cancer incidence may be due to changes in peak tobacco use among women, who were more likely to start smoking later in life and were slower to quit, ACS chief scientific officer William Dahut said.—
Tina Reed,
Axios,
16 Jan. 2025
Verb
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TikTok and content creators on the app argued the ban violates their First Amendment rights by cutting off all speech on the platform, while the federal government argued the ban is necessary for national security, given ByteDance’s Chinese ownership.—
Alison Durkee,
Forbes,
17 Jan. 2025
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Kira Weibel was in eighth grade when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the student’s Altadena charter school, cutting off critical community connections.—
Teresa Watanabe,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near break off
Cite this Entry
“Break off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/break%20off. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.
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