| 单词 | break |
| 释义 | break break // verb, noun
■ verb (broke /; AmE / broken /; AmE /) [+ obj]
1 to do sth that is against the law; to not do what you have agreed or promised to do: The group has been accused of breaking accounting rules. They have broken the contract. The president has broken his pre-election promises. The company's financial model breaks all the rules of traditional finance.
2 to end a dispute or difficult situation, often by using strong action: The company broke the strike by getting managers to work in the factory. The government is trying to break the deadlock (= a failure to reach an agreement) between the union and employers. Competitors have not been able to break PlayStation's stranglehold (= complete control) over the games market.
3 to reach a higher level or standard than has been done before: A number of companies have broken $100 million in sales. The movie broke all box-office records. The shares briefly broke the $30 barrier. The company has just broken the $200 million mark in annual revenues. ⇨ RECORD-BREAKING
4 (especially AmE) to exchange a piece of paper money for coins: Can you break a twenty-dollar bill?
IDIOMS
break even (Finance ) if a company or a piece of business breaks even, it earns just enough money to pay for its costs: The company expects to break even by the end of 2006. The group needs revenues of about €800 million to break even. In less than a year, the new distribution centre broke even. BREAK-EVEN
break ground (especially AmE) (Property ) when you break ground on a new building or the building breaks ground, you start building it: The company will break ground on the plant by August 1 and begin production by February 1. The plant is expected to start operations in 2009 and break ground in early 2006.
break new ground to make a new discovery or do sth that has not been done before GROUNDBREAKING
make or break sb/sth to be the thing that makes sb/sth either a success or a failure: Transport costs can make or break a business. The demand for higher pay became the make-or-break issue in the talks.
PHRASAL VERBS
break above/below sth to become slightly higher or lower than a particular figure or level: The euro failed to break above its $1.82 high of the day before.
break down
1 (about a machine or a vehicle) to stop working because of a fault: The telephone system has broken down. I (= the car) broke down on the freeway.
2 to fail: The partnership between the firms is breaking down. Negotiations between the companies have broken down over the timing of the merger. ⇨ BREAKDOWN
break down; break sth down to separate into parts that are easier to analyse; to divide sth into parts in order to make it easier to analyse or to do: Each task is broken down into step-by-step procedures. Her approach to management breaks down into four principles. a list of the company's sales, broken down by sales team (= a list which shows the total sales and the sales of each team) BREAKDOWN
break into sth
1 to start to operate in a particular area of business: We're trying to break into the Japanese market.
2 to reach a particular level of success: The company should break into profit for the first time this year. They have broken into Business Week's list of top business schools.
break sth off to end sth suddenly: The company has broken off merger talks.
break through sth to succeed in going beyond a particular level; to succeed in dealing with a difficult problem: The firm's income has broken through the $10 million barrier. He tried to break through the old ideas about marketing the product.
break up (into sth); break sth up (into sth) to be divided into smaller parts; to divide sth in this way: Tyco plans to break up into smaller companies. The company will be broken up or sold. BREAK-UP
■ noun [C]
CAREER BREAK, PAGE BREAK, TAX BREAK
1 a short period of time when you stop what you are doing and rest, eat, etc: a coffee/lunch/tea break a break for lunch You should take a one-minute break from the computer every 30 minutes.
❖ to have/take a break
2 a short holiday/vacation; a short time when an activity stops before it starts again: The markets resumed trading after a three day break.
3 a pause for advertisements in the middle of a television or radio programme: More news after the break. a commercial break
4 (AmE) a reduction in an amount that you have to pay: Customers who download the software from the Internet will get a price break. We were given a break on our legal costs.
❖ to get/be given a break
5 (AmE) a tax break |
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