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Sneak vs Breaking - What's the difference?

sneak | breaking |

As nouns the difference between sneak and breaking

is that sneak is one who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information while breaking is the act by which something is broken.

As verbs the difference between sneak and breaking

is that sneak is to creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen while breaking is present participle of lang=en.

As an adjective sneak

is in advance; before release to the general public.

sneak

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.
  • My little brother is such a sneak - yesterday I caught him trying to look through my diary.
  • A cheat; a con artist; a trickster
  • I can't believe I gave that sneak $50 for a ticket when they were selling for $20 at the front gate.
  • An informer; a tell-tale.
  • (obsolete, cricket) A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter
  • Verb

  • To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen.
  • He decided to sneak into the kitchen for a second cookie while his mom was on the phone.
  • To take something stealthily without permission.
  • I went to sneak a chocolate but my dad caught me.
  • (dated) To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.
  • * Wake
  • [Slander] sneaks its head.
  • (informal, especially with on) To inform an authority about another's misdemeanours; to tell tales; to grass.
  • If you sneak on me I'll bash you!

    Usage notes

    * The past and past participle snuck'' is primarily found in North American English, where it originated in the late 19th century as a dialectal form. It is still regarded as informal by some, but its use appears to be increasing in frequency and acceptability. It is occasionally found in British and Australian/Hiberno-English, too, though regarded as an American form. (See Oxford Dictionaries, ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'', ''Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary'', ''Webster's New World College Dictionary .) * To sneak'' (take) something is not the same as to ''steal'' something. In this sense, ''sneak'' typically implies trying to avoid a supervisor's or guardian's mild displeasure or mild discipline, while ''steal indicates a more serious action and often the person stealing does not know the owner of the item being stolen.

    Derived terms

    * sneaker * sneaky * sneakily * sneakiness * sneak peek * sneak preview * sneak thief * sneak away * sneak in * sneak off * sneak out * sneak up/sneak up on * sneak around

    Adjective

    (-)
  • In advance; before release to the general public.
  • The company gave us a sneak look at their new electronic devices.
  • In a stealthy or surreptitious manner.
  • I was able to get a sneak peek at the guest list.

    Derived terms

    * sneak peek * sneak preview

    breaking

    Verb

    (head)
  • Noun

  • The act by which something is broken.
  • * 2009 , John Renard, Tales of God's Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Translation (page 53)
  • We, on the other hand, do not reject the occurrence of breakings of the natural order of things that occur in connection with a prescribed proclamation
  • (linguistics) A change of a vowel to a diphthong
  • (music) A form of ornamentation in which groups of short notes are used instead of long ones
  • break dancing
  • * 2014 , Karen Schupp, Studying Dance: A Guide for Campus and Beyond (page 48)
  • The urban dance genre includes breaking , waacking, and house dancing, among others.

    Derived terms

    * aerobreaking

    Anagrams

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