different between press vs break

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /p??s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Etymology 1

Middle English presse (“throng, crowd, clothespress”), partially from Old English press (“clothespress”) (from Medieval Latin pressa) and partially from Old French presse (Modern French presse) from Old French presser (“to press”), from Latin press?re, from pressus, past participle of premere (“to press”). Displaced native Middle English thring (“press, crowd, throng”) (from Old English þring (“a press, crowd, anything that presses or confines”)).

Noun

press (countable and uncountable, plural presses)

1. (countable) A device used to apply pressure to an item.

2. (countable) A printing machine.

   Synonym: printing press

3. (uncountable, collective) The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).
4. (countable) A publisher.
5. (countable, especially in Ireland and Scotland) An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).
6. (countable, weightlifting) An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.
   • 1974, Charles Gaines & George Butler, Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding, p.22:

     This is the fourth set of benchpresses. There will be five more; then there will be five sets of presses on an inclined bench […].

7. (countable, wagering) An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an existing (usually losing) wager in value, but begins even at the time of the bet.

8. (countable) Pure, unfermented grape juice.

9. A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.

   Synonym: press-gang
10. (obsolete) A crowd.

    • And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

11. This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
12. (psychology) In personology, any environmental factor that arouses a need in the individual.
    • 2009, Allison E. Smith, Ageing in Urban Neighbourhoods (page 88)

      The environmental comfort category is illustrative of cases in which there are low environmental presses matched against a number of personal competences.

Synonyms

• (storage space): See closet, cupboard, pantry

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Middle English pressen (“to crowd, thring, press”), from Old French presser (“to press”) (Modern French presser) from Latin press?re, from pressus, past participle of premere "to press". Displaced native Middle English thringen (“to press, crowd, throng”) (from Old English þringan (“to press, crowd”)), Middle English thrasten (“to press, force, urge”) (from Old English þr?stan (“to press, force”)), Old English þryscan (“to press”), Old English þ?wan (“to press, impress”).

Verb

press (third-person singular simple present presses, present participle pressing, simple past and past participle pressed or prest)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To exert weight or force against, to act upon with force or weight; to exert pressure upon.
2. (transitive, mechanics, electronics) To activate a button or key by exerting a downward or forward force on it, and then releasing it.

   Synonyms: strike, hit, depress

3. (transitive) To compress, squeeze.

   Synonyms: thring, thrutch; see also Thesaurus:compress

4. (transitive) To clasp, hold in an embrace.

   Synonym: hug
5. (transitive) To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure, especially flatten or smooth.

6. (transitive, sewing) To flatten a selected area of fabric using an iron with an up-and-down, not sliding, motion, so as to avoid disturbing adjacent areas.
7. (transitive) To drive or thrust by pressure, to force in a certain direction.

   Synonyms: thring, thrutch

8. (transitive, obsolete) To weigh upon, oppress, trouble.
9. (transitive) To force to a certain end or result; to urge strongly.

   Synonym: impel
10. To try to force (something upon someone).

    Synonyms: urge, inculcate
11. (transitive) To hasten, urge onward.

12. (transitive) To urge, beseech, entreat.
13. (transitive) To lay stress upon.

    Synonym: emphasize
14. (transitive, intransitive) To throng, crowd.

    Synonyms: thring, thrutch; see also Thesaurus:assemble

15. (transitive, obsolete) To print.
16. To force into service, particularly into naval service.

    Synonym: press-gang

Derived terms

• press charges
• press on

Translations

See also

• hot press (baking, laundry)
• hot off the press (printing)
• press down

References

• Entry for the imperfect and past participle in Webster's dictionary
• press in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “press”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000

Anagrams

• ERSPs, RESPs, SERPs, Spers

German

Verb

press

1. singular imperative of pressen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of pressen

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From the verb presse

Noun

press n (definite singular presset, indefinite plural press, definite plural pressa or pressene)

1. pressure
2. (weightlifting) a press

Related terms

• trykk

Etymology 2

Verb

press

1. imperative of presse

References

• “press” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “press_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From the verb presse

Noun

press n (definite singular presset, indefinite plural press, definite plural pressa)

1. pressure
2. (weightlifting) a press

Related terms

• trykk

References

• “press” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish

Noun

press m (plural press)

1. press (exercise)

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

press c

1. a press; a tool that applies pressure (to make things flat, to make juice)
2. a (printing) press

   stoppa pressarna

   stop the presses

3. the press (newspapers, journalism as a branch of society)
4. (mental) pressure
5. a muscle exercise that applies pressure

Declension

Related terms

• apelsinpress
• bänkpress
• benpress
• blompress
• brevpress
• pressa
• pressbyrå
• pressfrihet
• pressning
• tryckpress

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: br?k, IPA^(key): /b?e?k/, [b??e??k]
• Rhymes: -e?k
• Homophone: brake

Etymology 1

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekan? (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?reg- (“to break”). The word is a doublet of bray.

Verb

break (third-person singular simple present breaks, present participle breaking, simple past broke or (archaic) brake, past participle broken or (colloquial) broke)

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

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

3. (transitive) To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of.
   • 1613, William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, Henry VIII, Act IV, Sc. 2:

     An old man, broken with the storms of state,

     Is come to lay his weary bones among ye;

     Give him a little earth for charity

   1. To turn an animal into a beast of burden.
      • 2002, John Fusco, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

        Colonel: See, gentlemen? Any horse could be broken.

4. (intransitive) To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.

5. (transitive) To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.
   1. (transitive, theater) To end the run of (a play).
      • 1958, Walter Macqueen-Pope, St. James's: Theatre of Distinction (page 134)

        In July Alexander broke the run and went on tour, as was his custom. He believed in keeping in touch with provincial audiences and how wise he was!

      • 1986, Kurt Gänzl, The British Musical Theatre: 1865-1914 (page 610)

        After Camberwell he broke the play's season and brought it back in the autumn with a few revisions and a noticeably strengthened cast but without any special success.

6. (transitive) To ruin financially.

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

7. (transitive) To violate, to not adhere to.
8. (intransitive, of a fever) To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, in terms of temperature.

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

9. (intransitive, of a spell of settled weather) To end.

10. (intransitive, of a storm) To begin; to end.

11. (intransitive, of morning, dawn, day etc.) To arrive.
12. (transitive, gaming slang) To render (a game) unchallenging by altering its rules or exploiting loopholes or weaknesses in them in a way that gives a player an unfair advantage.

13. (transitive, intransitive) To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.
    1. (specifically, in programming) To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression.

14. (transitive) To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.
    1. (specifically) To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible.
    2. (specifically) To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination, or the like.
15. (transitive) To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.

16. (intransitive, of a wave of water) To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.
17. (intransitive) To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.
    • 1800, William Wordsworth, The Fountain

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

18. (intransitive) To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily.

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

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

21. (intransitive, of a sound) To become audible suddenly.
    • c. 1843,, George Lippard, The Battle-Day of Germantown, reprinted in Washington and His Generals "1776", page 45 [2]:

      Like the crash of thunderbolts[...], the sound of musquetry broke over the lawn, [...].

22. (transitive) To change a steady state abruptly.

23. (copulative, informal) To suddenly become.

24. (intransitive) Of a male voice, to become deeper at puberty.
25. (intransitive) Of a voice, to alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack.

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

27. (sports and games):
    1. (transitive, tennis) To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver.
    2. (intransitive, billiards, snooker, pool) To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement.

    3. (transitive, backgammon) To remove one of the two men on (a point).
28. (transitive, military, most often in the passive tense) 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, William Manchester, The Arms of Krupp, Back Bay (2003), ?ISBN, 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, Peter Collier, Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty, Second Edition, Artisan Books, ?ISBN, 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.

29. (transitive) To end (a connection), to disconnect.

30. (intransitive, of an emulsion) To demulsify.
31. (intransitive, sports) To counter-attack
32. (transitive, obsolete) To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
33. (intransitive) To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
    • 1731, Jonathan Swift, Verses on His Own Death

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

34. (intransitive, obsolete) To fail in business; to become bankrupt.
    • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Riches

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

35. (transitive) To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.

36. (transitive) To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
    • January 11, 1711, Jonathan Swift, The Examiner No. 24

      when I see a great officer broke.

37. (intransitive) To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait.

38. (intransitive, archaic) To fall out; to terminate friendship.
    • c. 1700 Jeremy Collier, On Friendship

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

39. (computing) To terminate the execution of a program before normal completion.
40. (programming) To suspend the execution of a program during debugging so that the state of the program can be investigated.

Conjugation

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:break.

Synonyms

• (ergative: separate into two or more pieces): burst, bust, shatter, shear, smash, split
• (ergative: crack (bone)): crack, fracture
• (transitive: turn an animal into a beast of burden): break in, subject, tame
• (transitive: do that which is forbidden by): contravene, go against, violate
• (intransitive: stop functioning): break down, bust, fail, go down (of a computer or computer network)

Antonyms

• (transitive: cause to end up in two or more pieces): assemble, fix, join, mend, put together, repair
• (tennis, intransitive: break serve): hold

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

• bork
• breaking
• broke
• broken

Translations

Noun

break (plural breaks)

1. An instance of breaking something into two or more pieces.

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

3. A rest or pause, usually from work.

4. (Britain) a time for students to talk or play.
5. A short holiday.

6. A temporary split with a romantic partner.

7. An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game.
8. A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention.

9. The beginning (of the morning).

10. An act of escaping.

11. (computing) The separation between lines, paragraphs or pages of a written text.
    • 2001, Nan Barber, ?David Reynolds, Office 2001 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual (page 138)

      No matter how much text you add above the break, the text after the break will always appear at the top of a new page.

12. (computing) A keystroke or other signal that causes a program to terminate or suspend execution.
13. (programming) Short for breakpoint.
14. (Britain, weather) A change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.
15. (sports and games):
    2. (tennis) A game won by the receiving player(s).
    3. (billiards, snooker, pool) The first shot in a game of billiards
    4. (snooker) The number of points scored by one player in one visit to the table
    5. (soccer) The counter-attack
    6. (surfing) A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).

16. (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.
17. (equitation) A sharp bit or snaffle.
    • 1576, George Gascoigne, The Steele Glas

      Pampered jades […] which need nor break nor bit.

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

19. (music) The point in the musical scale at which a woodwind instrument is designed to overblow, that is, to move from its lower to its upper register.

20. (geography, chiefly in the plural) An area along a river that features steep banks, bluffs, or gorges (e.g., Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, US).
21. (obsolete, slang) error [late 19th–early 20th c.]

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; see also Thesaurus:interspace or Thesaurus:hole
• (rest or pause, usually from work): time-out; see also Thesaurus:pause
• (time for playing outside): playtime (UK), recess (US)
• (short holiday): day off, time off; see also Thesaurus:vacation
• (beginning of the morning): crack of dawn; see also Thesaurus:dawn
• (error): See Thesaurus:error

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of breakdown (the percussion break of songs chosen by a DJ for use in hip-hop music) and see also breakdancing.

Noun

break (plural breaks)

1. (music) A section of extended repetition of the percussion break to a song, created by a hip-hop DJ as rhythmic dance music.

Derived terms

• Amen break

References

• break at OneLook Dictionary Search
• 2001. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: North America. Garland Publishing. Ellen Koskoff (Ed.). Pgs. 694-695.

Anagrams

• Abrek, Baker, Brake, baker, barke, brake

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??k/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English break.

Noun

break m (plural breaks)

1. break (pause, holiday)

   Synonym: pause

2. (tennis) break (of serve)

Derived terms

• balle de break

Etymology 2

From earlier break de chasse, from English shooting brake.

Noun

break m (plural breaks)

1. (automotive) estate car, station wagon

   Antonym: berline

References

• “break” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English break.

Noun

break m (invariable)

1. break (intermission or brief suspension of activity)

Interjection

break

1. break! (boxing)

Spanish

Noun

break m (plural breaks)

1. break (pause)
2. (tennis) break