Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act or an instance of breaking up, as a division, dispersal, or disintegration.
  • noun The discontinuance of a relationship, as a marriage or a friendship.
  • noun The cracking and shifting of ice in rivers or harbors during the spring.
  • noun A loss of control or composure.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A disruption; a dissolution of connection; a separation of a mass into parts; a disintegration; a disbandment.
  • Pertaining to or in celebration of the breaking up or termination of any society, association, meeting, or the like: as, a break-up party or ceremony.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Disruption; coming apart; a separation and dispersion of the parts or members.
  • noun the termination of a relationship; a break-up of the government; the break-up of a marriage; the break-up of a business partnership; the break-up of a comedy team.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of breaking up; disintegration or division
  • noun The termination of a romantic or sexual relationship
  • noun A loss of emotional control; a breakdown

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun coming apart
  • noun the termination or disintegration of a relationship (between persons or nations)
  • verb laugh unrestrainedly
  • verb cause to go into a solution
  • verb attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example
  • verb bring the association of to an end or cause to break up
  • verb suffer a nervous breakdown
  • verb release ice
  • verb set or keep apart
  • verb make a break in
  • verb destroy the completeness of a set of related items
  • verb take apart into its constituent pieces
  • verb discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
  • verb break or cause to break into pieces
  • verb close at the end of a session
  • verb to cause to separate and go in different directions
  • verb come apart
  • verb come to an end
  • verb break violently or noisily; smash
  • verb separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts
  • verb cause to separate

Etymologies

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Examples

  • He has a song called "Flirted With You All My Life," which he described as his breakup song with death, the song about flirting with death and then deciding death, I'm not ready.

    In Memoriam: Sweet, Sad Rocker Vic Chesnutt 2010

  • I'm just saying that they exist so I can say that the breakup is far from a surprise, and in some ways it feels like a relief - not because I don't care for her, but because it has not * felt* like a relationship in quite some time, so now at least the cognitive dissonance of calling it something it's not no longer exists.

    Thor's Day aquablogathon09 2009

  • She called the breakup amicable and said that they planned to continue raising their two young children together.

    Lilit Marcus: Melissa Etheridge, Tammy Lynn Michaels, and Breaking Up in the Era of the Blog 2010

  • She called the breakup amicable and said that they planned to continue raising their two young children together.

    Lilit Marcus: Melissa Etheridge, Tammy Lynn Michaels, and Breaking Up in the Era of the Blog 2010

  • One you get to that point, you can start seeing how the Melfi breakup is integral to the final scene.

    Matthew Yglesias » More Sopranos Blogging 2007

  • If you have a happy couple lurking around somewhere, they must end in breakup or death because OMG that's drama.

    A Vaccine For Whedon Syndrome 2005

  • Not surprisingly, the bulk of the wreckage lay under the main breakup, from south of Dallas eastward across the rugged, snake-infested brushland of East Texas and into Louisiana; and that is where most of the search took place.

    Columbia's Last Flight 2003

  • Not surprisingly, the bulk of the wreckage lay under the main breakup, from south of Dallas eastward across the rugged, snake-infested brushland of East Texas and into Louisiana; and that is where most of the search took place.

    Columbia's Last Flight 2003

  • Family breakup is an inevitable feature of American life, and anyone who thinks otherwise is indulging in nostalgia or trying to turn back the clock.

    Dan Quayle Was Right 1993

  • Family breakup is an inevitable feature of American life, and anyone who thinks otherwise is indulging in nostalgia or trying to turn back the clock.

    Dan Quayle Was Right 1993

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