break apart
Shatter into pieces
Break apart means to separate into pieces or components.
Physical objects break apart under stress: The ice shelf broke apart and drifted into the sea.
Relationships and groups also break apart when unity fails: The coalition broke apart over budget disagreements.
Unlike break up, which often implies a deliberate ending, break apart suggests fragmentation—things coming undone rather than being divided.
- shatterFragment violently, suddenly
- fall to piecesFragment completely, lose cohesion
- fragmentIncomplete portion of whole
- crumbleFragment gradually
- splinterThin sharp fragment
disintegrate · come undone · fracture · split · split open · rupture · tear asunder · scatter · pieces · debris · shards · rip to shreds · collapse · demolish · wreckage · tear · rip · explode
- collapsecollapse, cave in, cave-in, fall in, give way
- disconnectingdetaching, disconnect, disengaging, detach, disconnecting
- separationseparate, sieving, straining, divide, filtration
- bring downbring down, take down, pull down, tear down, knock down
- deterioratedecay, rot, deteriorate, decompose, corrode
break apartcome together
Gather into one group
unite · join together · bond · merge · band together
break apartput together
Combine into one
assemble · build · construct · piece together · fit together
break, apart, breaks, broke, broken, breaking, breaker, breakage, outbreak