Definition of 'breach'
Word forms: breaches plural3rd person singular present tense, breaching present participle, breached past tense past participle
1. transitive verb
If you breach an agreement, a law, or a promise, you break it.
2. variable noun
A breach of an agreement, a law, or a promise is an act of breaking it.
3. countable noun
4. transitive verb
If someone or something breaches a barrier, they make an opening in it, usually leaving it weakened or destroyed.
[formal]5. transitive verb
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
breach
American English pronunciation
British English pronunciation
Word Frequency
breach in American English
noun
1. Obsolete
a breaking or being broken
2.
3.
an opening made by a breakthrough, as in a wall, line of defense, etc.
4.
a broken or torn place or part
5.
a breaking of waves over or upon a ship, sea wall, etc.
6.
a whale's leap clear of the water
7.
a break in friendly relations
verb transitive
8.
to make a breach in; break open or through
verb intransitive
10.
to leap clear of the water
said of a whale Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME breche < OE bryce < brecan (see break); infl. by OFr breche < OHG brecha, of same orig.
Word Frequency
breach in American English
(britʃ)
noun
1.
the act or a result of breaking; break or rupture
4.
a severance of friendly relations
5.
the leap of a whale above the surface of the water
transitive verb
8.
to make a breach or opening in
9.
to break or act contrary to (a law, promise, etc.)
intransitive verb
SYNONYMS 1. fracture. 2. breach, infraction, violation, transgression all denote in some way the breaking of a rule or law or the upsetting of a normal
and desired state. breach is used infrequently in reference to laws or rules, more often in connection with
desirable conditions or states of affairs: a breach of the peace, of good manners, of courtesy. infraction most often refers to clearly formulated rules or laws: an infraction of the criminal code, of university regulations, of a labor contract. violation, a stronger term than either of the preceding two, often suggests intentional, even
forceful or aggressive, refusal to obey the law or to respect the rights of others:
repeated violations of parking regulations; a human rights violation. transgression, with its root sense of “a stepping across (of a boundary of some sort),” applies
to any behavior that exceeds the limits imposed by a law, especially a moral law,
a commandment, or an order; it often implies sinful behavior: a serious transgression of social customs, of God's commandments. 3. crack, rent, opening. 4. alienation, split, rift, schism, separation; dissension.10. (of a whale)
to leap partly or completely out of the water, head first, and land on the back or belly with a resounding splash
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
breacher noun
Word Frequency
breach in British English
noun
2.
a breaking, infringement, or violation of a promise, obligation, etc
4.
5.
the act of a whale in breaking clear of the water
6.
the breaking of sea waves on a shore or rock
7. an obsolete word for wound1
verb
9. (transitive)
to break a promise, law, etc
10. (intransitive)
(of a whale) to break clear of the water
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
Old English bræc; influenced by Old French brèche, from Old High German brecha, from brechan to breakExamples of 'breach' in a sentence
breach
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breach
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In other languages
breach
British English: breach
VERB /briːtʃ/
If you breach an agreement, a law, or a promise, you break it.
The newspaper breached the code of conduct on privacy.
- American English: breach /ˈbritʃ/
- Brazilian Portuguese: abrir brecha em
- Chinese: 违反
- European Spanish: quebrantar
- French: ne pas respecter
- German: verletzen
- Italian: violare
- Japanese: 違反する
- Korean: 어기다
- European Portuguese: quebrar
- Spanish: quebrantar
- Thai: ละเมิด
British English: breach
NOUN /briːtʃ/
A breach of an agreement, a law, or a promise is an act of breaking it.
The man was accused of a breach of secrecy rules.
- American English: breach /ˈbritʃ/
- Brazilian Portuguese: brecha
- Chinese: 违反
- European Spanish: brecha
- French: infraction
- German: Bruch
- Italian: violazione
- Japanese: 違反
- Korean: 어기다
- European Portuguese: quebra
- Spanish: brecha
- Thai: การละเมิด
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Definition of breach from the Collins English Dictionary
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Shakespeare
William. 1564–1616, English dramatist and poet. He was born and died at Stratford-upon-Avon but spent most of his life as an actor and playwright in London. His plays with approximate dates of composition are: Henry VI, Parts I–III (1590); Richard III (1592); The Comedy of Errors (1592); Titus Andronicus (1593); The Taming of the Shrew (1593); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594); Love's Labour's Lost (1594); Romeo and Juliet (1594); Richard II (1595); A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595); King John (1596); The Merchant of Venice (1596); Henry IV, Parts I–II (1597); Much Ado about Nothing (1598); Henry V (1598); Julius Caesar (1599); As You Like It (1599); Twelfth Night (1599); Hamlet (1600); The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600); Troilus and Cressida (1601); All's Well that ends Well (1602); Measure for Measure (1604); Othello (1604); King Lear (1605); Macbeth (1605); Antony and Cleopatra (1606); Coriolanus (1607); Timon of Athens (1607); Pericles (1608); Cymbeline (1609); The Winter's Tale (1610); The Tempest (1611); and, possibly in collaboration with John Fletcher , Two Noble Kinsmen (1612) and Henry VIII (1612). His Sonnets , variously addressed to a fair young man and a dark lady , were published in 1609
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