Break vs Down - What's the difference?

In transitive terms the difference between break and down

is that break is to end (a connection), to disconnect while down is to cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.

In obsolete terms the difference between break and down

is that break is to lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate while down is downright; absolute; positive.

In lang=en terms the difference between break and down

is that break is a large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind while down is a grudge ({{term|on}} someone).

As verbs the difference between break and down

is that break is to separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly while down is to drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty.

As nouns the difference between break and down

is that break is an instance of breaking something into two pieces while down is hill, rolling grassland.

As an adverb down is

from a higher position to a lower one; downwards.

As a preposition down is

from the higher end to the lower of.

As an adjective down is

depressed, feeling low.

As a proper noun Down is

one of the counties of Northern Ireland.

break

English

(wikipedia break)

Verb

(intransitive) To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly.

If the vase falls to the floor, it might break .

She broke the vase.

# (intransitive) To crack or fracture (bone) under a physical strain.

His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest.

She broke his neck.

He slipped on the ice and broke his leg.

(US) To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.

''Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me?

The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers.

To cause (a person) to lose his or her spirit or will; to crush the spirits of; to ruin (a person) emotionally.

Her child's death broke Angela.

Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war.

* Shakespeare

an old man, broken with the storms of state

To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.

My heart is breaking .

To cause (a person or animal) to lose its will.

You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden.

The interrogator hoped to break her to get her testimony against her accomplices.

To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.

I've got to break this habit I have of biting my nails.

to break''' silence; to '''break''' one's sleep; to '''break one's journey

I had won four games in a row, but now you've broken my streak of luck.

* Shakespeare

Go, release them, Ariel; / My charms I'll break , their senses I'll restore.

To ruin financially.

The recession broke some small businesses.

* Dryden

With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks, / Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks .

To violate, to not adhere to.

When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law.

He broke his vows by cheating on his wife.

break one's word

Time travel would break'' the laws of physics.

* Milton

Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts / To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray.

(of a fever) To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, temperaturewise.

Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over.

To design or use a powerful (yet legal) strategy that unbalances the game in a player's favor.

Letting white have three extra queens would break chess.

(intransitive) To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.

On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke .

Did you two break the trolley by racing with it?

# To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression.

Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions.

To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.

break a seal

# (specifically) To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible.

# (specifically) To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination or the like.

(of a wave of water) To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.

To end.

The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek.

To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.

* Shakespeare

The clouds are still above; and, while I speak, / A second deluge o'er our head may break .

* Wordsworth

And from the turf a fountain broke , / And gurgled at our feet.

To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily.

Let's break for lunch.

To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object not hit something else beneath.

He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall.

(ergative) To disclose or make known an item of news, etc.

The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous.

I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back.

In the latest breaking news...

When news of their divorce broke , ...

(of morning) To arrive.

Morning has broken .

* Shakespeare

The day begins to break , and night is fled.

(of a sound) To become audible suddenly.

* , The Battle-Day of Germantown'', reprinted in ''Washington and His Generals "1776" , page 45 [http://google.com/books?id=EM-qNjWrI9YC&pg=PA45&dq=%22sound+of+musquetry%22]:

Like the crash of thunderbolts.

To change a steady state abruptly.

His coughing broke the silence.

His turning on the lights broke the enchantment.

With the mood broken , what we had been doing seemed pretty silly.

(copulative, informal) To suddenly become.

Things began breaking bad for him when his parents died.

The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly.

Of a voice, to alter in type: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack.

His voice breaks when he gets emotional.

To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (a record), setting a new record.

He broke the men's 100-meter record.

I can't believe she broke 3 under par!

The policeman broke sixty on a residential street in his hurry to catch the thief.

(sports, and, games):

# (tennis) To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver.

He needs to break serve to win the match.

#* {{quote-news, year=2012

, date=June 28 , author=Jamie Jackson , title=Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=Yet when play restarted the Czech was a train that kept on running over Nadal. After breaking Nadal in the opening game of the final set, he went 2-0 up and later took the count to 4-2 with yet another emphatic ace – one of his 22 throughout.}}

# (intransitive, billiards, snooker, pool) To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement.

Is it your or my turn to break ?

# (backgammon) To remove one of the two men on (a point).

To demote, to reduce the military rank of.

* 1953 February 9, “ Books: First Rulers of Asia”, in Time :

And he played no favorites: when his son-in-law sacked a city he had been told to spare, Genghis broke him to private.

* 1968 , , Back Bay (2003), ISBN 978-0-316-52940-2, page 215:

One morning after the budget had failed to balance Finanzminister von Scholz picked up Der Reichsanzeiger and found he had been broken to sergeant.

* 2006 , , Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty , Second Edition, Artisan Books, ISBN 978-1-57965-314-9, page 42:

Not long after this event, Clausen became involved in another disciplinary situation and was broken to private—the only one to win the Medal of Honor in Vietnam.

To end (a connection), to disconnect.

The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch.

The referee broke the boxers' clinch.

I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back.

(of an emulsion) To demulsify.

* '>citation

(sports) To counter-attack

* {{quote-news, year=2010

, date=December 28 , author=Kevin Darlin , title=West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The Baggies almost hit back instantly when Graham Dorrans broke from midfield and pulled the trigger from 15 yards but Paul Robinson did superbly to tip the Scot's drive around the post. }}

(obsolete) To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

* Shakespeare

Katharine, break thy mind to me.

To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.

* Jonathan Swift

See how the dean begins to break ; / Poor gentleman he droops apace.

(obsolete) To fail in business; to become bankrupt.

* Francis Bacon

He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes break , and come to poverty.

To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.

The cavalry were not able to break the British squares.

To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.

to break flax

To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.

* Jonathan Swift

I see a great officer broken .

To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait.

to break into a run or gallop

(archaic) To fall out; to terminate friendship.

* Collier

To break upon the score of danger or expense is to be mean and narrow-spirited.

Quotations

* (English Citations of "break")

Usage notes

The sense relating to a spell of weather is most likely to be used after a period of persistent good or bad weather; it is rarely used to signify the end of short-lived conditions. In colloquial use, the past participle is sometimes 'broke' instead of 'broken,' as in the expression "."

Synonyms

* burst, bust, shatter, shear, smash, split * crack, fracture * subject, tame * contravene, go against, violate * break down, bust, fail, go down (of a computer or computer network)

Antonyms

* assemble, fix, join, mend, put together, repair * hold

Derived terms

* breakage * break a leg * break apart * break away * break bad * break bread * break down * breaker * break even * break in * break into * break loose * break new ground * break off * break one's fast * break open * break out * break rank * break someone's heart * break stride * break the ice * break through * break up * break wind * icebreaker * make-or-break * outbreak * be on a break

Noun

(en noun)

An instance of breaking something into two pieces.

The femur has a clean break and so should heal easily.

A physical space that opens up in something or between two things.

The sun came out in a break in the clouds.

He waited minutes for a break in the traffic to cross the highway.

(music) A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.

The fiddle break was amazing; it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note.

A rest or pause, usually from work; a breaktime.

Let’s take a five-minute break .

A temporary split (with a romantic partner).

I think we need a break.

An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game.

* {{quote-news, year=2010

, date=December 29 , author=Chris Whyatt , title=Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=But they marginally improved after the break as Didier Drogba hit the post. }}

A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention: big break, lucky break, bad break.

(British, weather) a change; the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather

The beginning (of the morning).

daybreak

at the break of day

An act of escaping.

make a break for it

make a break for the door

It was a clean break .

prison break

(surfing) A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).

The final break in the Greenmount area is Kirra Point.

# (tennis) A game won by the receiving player(s).

# (billiards, snooker, pool) The first shot in a game of billiards

# (snooker) The number of points scored by one player in one visit to the table

# (soccer) The counter-attack

#* {{quote-news, year=2010

, date=December 28 , author=Owen Phillips , title=Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Blackpool were not without their opportunities - thanks to their willingness to commit and leave men forward even when under severe pressure - and they looked very capable of scoring on the break . }}

(dated) A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.

A sharp bit or snaffle.

* Gascoigne

Pampered jades which need nor break nor bit.

Usage notes

* (music) The instruments that are named are the ones that carry on playing, for example a (fiddle break) implies that the fiddle is the most prominent instrument playing during the break.

Synonyms

* (instance of breaking something into two pieces) split * (physical space that opens up in something or between two things) breach, gap, space * (sense) time out

Derived terms

* beach break * bio-break * break point * century break * clean break * daybreak * give someone a break * heartbreak * jailbreak * make a break for it * maximum break * point break * take a break

Statistics

Anagrams

* (l), (l) * (l) English ergative verbs English irregular verbs English terms with homophones 1000 English basic words ----

down

English

(wikipedia down)

Etymology 1

(etyl) doun, from (etyl) , from British Celtic dunon'' 'hill; hillfort' (compare Welsh ''din'' 'hill', Irish ''dún'' 'hill, fort'), from (etyl) *''dheue'' or ''dhwene . More at (town); akin to (dune).

Noun

Hill, rolling grassland

Churchill Downs', Upson '''Downs (from ''Auntie Mame , by Patrick Dennis).

* 1610 , , act 4 scene 1

And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown

My bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down

* Ray

Hills afford prospects, as they must needs acknowledge who have been on the downs of Sussex.

* Tennyson

She went by dale, and she went by down .

(usually plural) Field, especially for racing.

(UK, mostly, in the plural) A tract of poor, sandy, undulating or hilly land near the sea, covered with fine turf which serves chiefly for the grazing of sheep.

* Sandys

Seven thousand broad-tailed sheep grazed on his downs .

A road for shipping in the English Channel or Straits of Dover, near Deal, employed as a naval rendezvous in time of war.

* Cook (First Voyage)

On the 11th [June, 1771] we run up the channel at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the Downs , and went ashore at Deal.

Etymology 2

(etyl) .

Adverb

(lb) From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.

*

It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.

* , chapter=6
, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.}}
(lb) At a lower place or position.

South (as south is at the bottom of typical maps).

(lb) Away from the city (even if the location is to the North).

Into a state of non-operation.

(lb) The direction leading away from the principal terminus, away from milepost zero.

(lb) Get down.

Away from Oxford or Cambridge.

From a remoter or higher antiquity.

* (and other bibliograpic details) (Daniel Webster)

Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation.

From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence.

(Arbuthnot)

From less to greater detail.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.}}
(lb)

Usage notes

* Down' can be used with verbs in ways that change the meaning of the verb in ways not entirely predictable from the meanings of the ' down and the verb, though related to them. See .

Antonyms

* (From a higher position to a lower one) up * (At a lower place) up * up * (Into a state of non-operation) up * up

Preposition

(English prepositions)
From the higher end to the lower of.

*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.}}
From one end to another of.

Antonyms

* (From the higher end to the lower) up

Derived terms

* (from the higher end to the lower) sell down the river

Adjective

(en adjective)
Depressed, feeling low.

So, things got you down ? / Is Rodney Dangerfield giving you no respect? / Well, bunky, cheer up!

On a lower level than before.

The stock market is down .

Prices are down .

Having a lower score than an opponent.

They are down by 3-0 with just 5 minutes to play.

He was down by a bishop and a pawn after 15 moves.

At 5-1 down , she produced a great comeback to win the set on a tiebreak.

(baseball, colloquial, following the noun modified) Out.

Two down and one to go in the bottom of the ninth.

(colloquial) With "on", negative about, hostile to

Ever since Nixon, I've been down on Republicans.

(not comparable, US, slang) Relaxed about, accepting of.

Are you down to hang out at the mall, Jamal?

As long as you're down with helping me pick a phone, Tyrone.

(not comparable) Inoperable; out of order; out of service.

''The system is down .

Finished]] (of a task); defeated or [[deal with, dealt with (of an opponent or obstacle); elapsed (of time). Often coupled with to go (remaining).

Two down and three to go. (Two tasks completed and three more still to be done.)

Ten minutes down and nothing's happened yet.

(not comparable, military, police, slang, of a person) Wounded and unable to move normally; killed.

We have an officer down outside the suspect's house.

There are three soldiers down and one walking wounded.

(not comparable, military, aviation, slang, of an aircraft) Mechanically failed, collided, shot down, or otherwise suddenly unable to fly.

We have a chopper down near the river .

Thoroughly practiced, learned or memorised; mastered.

It's two weeks until opening night and our lines are still not down yet.

* 2013 , P.J. Hoover, Solstice , (ISBN 0765334690), page 355:

I stay with Chloe the longest. When she's not hanging out at the beach parties, she lives in a Japanese garden complete with an arched bridge spanning a pond filled with koi of varying sizes and shapes. Reeds shoot out of the water, rustling when the fish swim through them, and river-washed stones are sprinkled in a bed of sand. Chloe has this whole new Japanese thing down .

(obsolete) Downright; absolute; positive.

a down denial

(Beaumont and Fletcher)

Antonyms

* (Depressed) up * (On a lower level) up * (Having a lower score) up * (Inoperable) up

Verb

(en verb)
To drink or swallow, especially without stopping before the vessel containing the liquid is empty.

He downed an ale and ordered another.

To cause to come down; to knock down or subdue.

The storm downed several old trees along the highway.

* Sir Philip Sidney

To down proud hearts.

* Madame D'Arblay

I remember how you downed Beauclerk and Hamilton, the wits, once at our house.

(pocket billiards) To put a ball in a pocket; to pot a ball.

He downed two balls on the break.

(American football) To bring a play to an end by touching the ball to the ground or while it is on the ground.

He downed it at the seven-yard line.

To write off; to make fun of.

(obsolete) To go down; to descend.

(John Locke)

Synonyms

* (drink) See also

Noun

(en noun)
a negative aspect; a downer.

I love almost everything about my job. The only down is that I can't take Saturdays off.

(dated) A grudge ((on) someone).

* 1974 , (GB Edwards), The Book of Ebenezer Le Page , New York 2007, p. 10:

She had a down on me. I don't know what for, I'm sure; because I never said a word.

An act of swallowing an entire drink in one.

(American football) A single play, from the time the ball is snapped (the start) to the time the whistle is blown (the end) when the ball is down'', or ''is downed .

I bet after the third down , the kicker will replace the quarterback on the field.

(crosswords) A clue whose solution runs vertically in the grid.

I haven't solved 12 or 13 across, but I've got most of the downs .

An downstairs room of a two story house.

She lives in a two-up two-down .

down payment

Derived terms

* down and out * down at heel * down for the count * down in the dumps * down in the mouth * down memory lane * down on one's luck * down payment * down pat * downed (US and Canadian football) * downer * down to the short strokes * first down (US and Canadian football) * fourth down (US football) * second down (US and Canadian football) * third down (US and Canadian football) * top-down * upside down

References

* Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

Etymology 3

From (etyl) .

Noun

Soft, fluffy immature feathers which grow on young birds. Used as insulating material in duvets, sleeping bags and jackets.

(botany) The pubescence of plants; the hairy crown or envelope of the seeds of certain plants, such as the thistle.

The soft hair of the face when beginning to appear.

* Dryden

The first down begins to shade his face.

That which is made of down, as a bed or pillow; that which affords ease and repose, like a bed of down.

* Tennyson

When in the down I sink my head, / Sleep, Death's twin brother, times my breath.

* Southern

Thou bosom softness, down of all my cares!

Verb

(en verb)
To cover, ornament, line, or stuff with down.

(Young)

Statistics

* 100 English basic words English locatives English intensifiers 1000 English basic words ----