breaking off
Severing mid-course suddenly
Breaking off describes the act of separating a piece from a whole, or ending something abruptly.
You might break off a piece of chocolate, or break off a conversation when interrupted.
Relationships and engagements get broken off when one party ends them: She broke off the engagement after discovering his lies.
Breaking off can also mean stopping mid-sentence: He broke off, suddenly aware everyone was staring.
- pulling outRemoving from within
- cutting tiesEnding a relationship completely
- calling it quitsEnding an endeavor permanently
- backtrackReverse one's position
- interruptBreak in upon
backing away · departing · estrangement · cold shoulder · falling out · severance · detach · splitting up · discontinuation · trailing off · separate · cleaving · terminate · cut · cessation · abeyance · shearing · end
- breakingcracking, fracturing, rupturing, shattering, snapping
- leavingdeparture, quit, walking away, withdrawing, bail
- Incomplete Actionsunfinished, partial, halfway, midway, interrupted
- reducingshrinking, lessening, diminishing, decreasing, cutting back
- repudiatingrenouncing, disclaiming, rejecting, disavowing, disowning
breaking offcontinuing
Going on without stopping
carrying on · persisting · persevering · keeping up · pressing on
breaking offattaching
Joining to something else
joining · connecting · affixing · fastening · bonding
breaking offgetting engaged
beginning · starting · establishing · initiating · forming
break, broken, breaking, unbroken, breakup, outbreak, breaks, unbreakable, breaker