- break
- A sudden price move; prices may break up or down. The CENTER ONLINE Futures Glossary————A rapid and sharp price decline. Related: crash. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary
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1. [transitive] if someone breaks a law, rule, agreement etc, they do not do what it says they should do:• If you copy music files from the Internet, you could easily be breaking the law .
• The other company broke the terms of its agreement.
2. if employers break a strike, they force the strikers to end it, perhaps with the help of the army or the police:• He broke the ambulancemen's strike by getting the army to answer emergency calls.
3. break even to neither make a profit nor lose money:• The company needs to charge $13 a ton to break even.
• The retailer warns that it expects sales to be down by 15%, and it may only break even.
break down phrasal verb1. [transitive] break something → down to separate information or a total amount into parts, especially so that it is easier to understand:• Once the statistics are broken down, some clear patterns of employment begin to emerge.
2. [intransitive] if talks break down, they fail and come to an end because the people involved cannot agree:• The meeting between management and unions broke down and no progress was made.
break something → up phrasal verb [intransitive, transitive]1. if a company or group breaks up or is broken up, it is divided into smaller companies:• The new chairman plans to break up the group into more autonomous subsidiaries.
2. if someone breaks up an arrangement or agreement, or if it is broken up, it ends:• Japan's Fair Trade Commission ordered 13 ink makers to break up a price-fixing cartel.
[m0] ▪ II. break break 2 noun [countable]1. a period of time when you stop working or stop what you are doing in order to rest, eat, take a holiday etc:• He was entitled to a forty-five minute lunch break.
• Employers must provide people who work at computers with rest breaks.
ˈbio breakinformal a period of time when you stop working in order to go to the toiletˈcity break TRAVELa short holiday in a large city:• Book now and make huge savings on city breaks to Paris, Berlin and Edinburgh.
ˈmini break TRAVELa holiday lasting two or three days:• a mini break in London from the 1st - 3rd June
2. also comˌmercial ˈbreak a pause for advertisements during a television or radio programme:• We'll be back with more music after the break.
3. FINANCE a sudden, large fall in market prices, especially the price of shares on a stockmarket:• The big break in cattle prices has forced ranchers to stop selling young cattle.
4. a sudden or unexpected chance to do something, especially to be successful in your job:• She got her first break in 1951 on Broadway.
• He did small commercials for Yellow Pages before getting his big break with the Porsche advert.
5. a period of several weeks or years during which something stops, before continuing again:mini break in• If you have a break in paid employment for two complete consecutive tax years, you must pay full-rate contributions when you return to work.
caˈreer breaka period of time when you do not work in your usual job or profession, for example because you want to take care of your children:• women taking a career break to bring up a family
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Ⅰ.break UK US /breɪk/ verb [T] (broke, broken)► to do something that is against a law, or not do something that you should do or have promised to do: break the law »He didn't know he was breaking the law when he gave her the information.
»break a promise/agreement/contract
► to bring something to an end, especially suddenly or forcefully: »The company needs to break the spiral of borrowing and spending.
break a strike »Outside workers were hired in an attempt to break the strike.
► to reach a higher level of performance than previously: break a barrier »The company's market share had broken the 25% barrier for the first time.
break a record »Yesterday Roger broke the record for monthly sales.
► US INFORMAL to exchange a large bill (= piece of paper money) for bills or coins in smaller amounts: »Can you break a twenty for me, please?
Ⅱ.break UK US /breɪk/ noun [C]► WORKPLACE a short period of rest, when food or drink is sometimes taken: »a coffee/tea break
»Where do you go in your lunch break?
have/take a break »We'll work through till lunch but take a short break at 11 o'clock.
► a time away from work or from a regular activity: »the Christmas break
»She resumed her career after a two-year break.
► a short period when a radio or television programme is interrupted by announcements or advertisements: »We'll be right back after the break.
► US a reduction in the amount that has to be paid for something: »They are changing their pricing policy and offering small investors a big price break.
break on sth »New customers will be given a break on maintenance fees.
► an opportunity for improving a situation, especially one which happens unexpectedly: »Her big break came when she was offered a major part in a new movie.
Financial and business terms. 2012.
