breaks loose
Slips the leash
Breaks loose means escapes from confinement or restraint: The dog breaks loose from its leash.
More often, it describes something sudden and chaotic beginning: All hell breaks loose, A storm breaks loose.
The image is of something previously contained—whether physical, emotional, or situational—suddenly becoming uncontrolled.
- unleashedReleased from confinement
- run amokBehave violently without restraint
- runs wildActs without restraint
- unfetteredFree from restriction
- liberateSet free from captivity
escape · rampage · erupts · free · goes wild · burst · pandemonium · sets off · disengage · mayhem · havoc · unburdening · emancipation · unlock · awakening · unbolt · explodes · catharsis
breaks looseholds tight
Grasps without releasing
locks in · latches on · clings · grips · holds together
breaks loosesettles down
Becomes calm or established
dies down · subsides · calms down · keeps the peace · holds steady
break, breaks, broken, breaking, breakage, breaker, breakers, breakable, unbreakable