collocations.org

Collocations for break - noun

1. short rest; short holiday/vacation

ADJECTIVE

little, quick, short
coffee, dinner (esp. BrE), lunch, tea (BrE)
Christmas, Easter, holiday
Are you going away for the Easter break?
spring, summer, winter
weekend (esp. BrE)
I won a weekend break in Paris.
10-minute, two-week, etc.
We have a 15-minute break in the morning.

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VERB + break

have, take
We'll take a break now and resume in an hour.
need, want
deserve
enjoy

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break + NOUN

time (= between lessons at school)

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PREPOSITION

at break (BrE)
I'll see you at break.
during (a/the) break
I had a word with John during the break.
without a break
We worked all day without a break.
break for
a break for lunch
break from
a break from caring for the children

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2. change/interruption in sth

ADJECTIVE

clean, complete, sharp
career
commercial (esp. AmE)
nice, welcome (esp. BrE)

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VERB + break

make
His new work makes a break with the past.
I wanted to leave but was nervous about making the break.

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PREPOSITION

break from
a break from tradition
break in
a break in the weather
break with

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3. opportunity

ADJECTIVE

big, lucky

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VERB + break

get
I always knew I would get my lucky break one day.
give sb
He's the director who gave her her first big break.

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Collocations for break - verb

ADVERB

easily
in half, in two
She broke the bar in two and gave a piece to me.
apart, up
She broke the chocolate up into small pieces.

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PREPOSITION

into
The glass broke into hundreds of pieces.

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break down - PHRASAL VERB

1. fail

ADVERB

completely, irretrievably
Their marriage had broken down irretrievably.
eventually

2. start crying

PHRASES

break down and cry, break down in tears
She broke down in tears as she spoke to reporters.

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Break is used with these nouns as the subject:
cloud, dam, dawn, day, daylight, egg, elastic, glass, heart, nail, nerve, news, scandal, spring, stem, storm, story, string, surf, swell, twig, voice, wave, weather, window, zip

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Break is used with these nouns as the object:
agreement, ankle, arm, back, barrier, blockade, bond, bone, camp, ceasefire, ceiling, chain, chocolate, circuit, code, concentration, confidence, confidentiality, connection, consensus, continuity, contract, convention, cover, curfew, curse, cycle, date, deadlock, drought, egg, embargo, engagement, faith, fall, fast, finger, fingernail, flow, glass, habit, heart, hip, hold, hole, huddle, illusion, impasse, jaw, journey, law, lease, leg, limit, link, lock, mark, mirror, monopoly, mood, mould, nail, neck, news, nose, oath, pact, pane, parole, pelvis, pledge, precedent, promise, quiet, record, regulation, resistance, rhythm, rib, routine, rule, sabbath, seal, shoelace, siege, silence, skin, skyline, speed limit, spell, spine, spirit, spring, stalemate, stem, stereotype, stillness, stone, story, streak, stride, strike, string, surface, suspense, symmetry, taboo, tackle, tension, tie, toe, tooth, tradition, train, trance, treaty, truce, trust, twig, vase, vow, will, window, windscreen, word, wrist

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