1
: an act or instance of breaking up
2
: the breaking, melting, and loosening of ice in the spring
broke up; broken up; breaking up; breaks up
1
a
: to cease to exist as a unified whole : disperse
their partnership broke up
b
: to end a romance
2
: to lose morale, composure, or resolution
especially
: to become abandoned to laughter
breaks up completely, laughing himself into a coughing fit —
Gene Williams
Gene Williams Synonyms
Examples of breakup in a Sentence
Noun
Money problems often lead to marital breakups.
She's just gone through a bad breakup with her boyfriend.
He began drinking heavily following the breakup of his marriage.
a couple heading for marital breakup
What caused the breakup of the Roman Empire?
the breakup of a monopoly
the breakup of an asteroid as it hits the Earth's atmosphere
Verb
the band broke up when their arguments over money grew too stressful
the meeting broke up when all the business for the day had been completed
Recent Examples on the WebHazlitt, 3 Apr. 2024
The breakup of an opposition alliance after the defeat of that candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, did not hurt the CHP’s fortunes Sunday.
—Kareem Fahim, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024
Lower moments on the album were inspired by her recent move to Los Angeles, where most of her work is based, and a breakup.
—Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024
During his three years with the Demon Deacons, Mustapha posted 175 tackles, four sacks, 10 pass breakups, four interceptions and four forced fumbles.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 28 Mar. 2024
That way the fans would never have to deal with any kind of breakup.
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The government even has the right to ask for a breakup of the Silicon Valley icon.
—Tripp Mickle, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024
The project, the superstar’s most personal album yet, takes her on a healing journey following a very public breakup.
—Griselda Flores, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2024
The title track to For Your Consideration is about a breakup.
—Beverly Bryan, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2024
Will Carless, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
Chumbawamba, which broke up in 2012, has asked its former record company, Sony Music Publishing, to issue a cease-and-desist letter to New Zealand First.
—Dhruv Tikekar, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
As part of a request to build more efficiency into the company’s manufacturing processes, Culp explained that the furnace would be broken up into smaller pieces that would increase productivity.
—Melvin Backman, Quartz, 2 Apr. 2024
However, the band broke up soon after, and Rhodes went on to star in only one more film, 1991’s Curse of the Crystal Eye, before retiring from show business to focus on raising her children.
—EW.com, 30 Mar. 2024
Things change dramatically in terms of geography in 2024-25, with the Pac-12 breaking up in the name of football and dragging every other sport along with it.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2024
Turns out, even just a little bit of exercise can indeed help break up that bloated feeling: A post-meal stroll kick-starts digestion.
—Lizzy Briskin, SELF, 29 Mar. 2024
Since the exit of former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim in January of last year, NBC News has been broken up into smaller units, each with its own leader.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 26 Mar. 2024
Johnson broke up this fiscal year's spending bills into two parts as House Republicans revolted against what has become an annual practice of asking them to vote for one massive, complex bill called an omnibus with little time to review it or face a shutdown.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff and Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 23 Mar. 2024
Noun
Something led to the breakup with his first wife, and his second, and his third, which then led him to his fourth, and to their breakup, and to this piece of mail that ended up on Frank’s website.
—Hazlitt, 3 Apr. 2024
The breakup of an opposition alliance after the defeat of that candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, did not hurt the CHP’s fortunes Sunday.
—Kareem Fahim, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024
Lower moments on the album were inspired by her recent move to Los Angeles, where most of her work is based, and a breakup.
—Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024
During his three years with the Demon Deacons, Mustapha posted 175 tackles, four sacks, 10 pass breakups, four interceptions and four forced fumbles.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 28 Mar. 2024
That way the fans would never have to deal with any kind of breakup.
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The government even has the right to ask for a breakup of the Silicon Valley icon.
—Tripp Mickle, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024
The project, the superstar’s most personal album yet, takes her on a healing journey following a very public breakup.
—Griselda Flores, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2024
The title track to For Your Consideration is about a breakup.
—Beverly Bryan, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2024
Verb
After bailiffs broke up the altercation, Judge Daniel Goldstein reviewed security footage and then ordered the two people to leave the building.
—Will Carless, USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
Chumbawamba, which broke up in 2012, has asked its former record company, Sony Music Publishing, to issue a cease-and-desist letter to New Zealand First.
—Dhruv Tikekar, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
As part of a request to build more efficiency into the company’s manufacturing processes, Culp explained that the furnace would be broken up into smaller pieces that would increase productivity.
—Melvin Backman, Quartz, 2 Apr. 2024
However, the band broke up soon after, and Rhodes went on to star in only one more film, 1991’s Curse of the Crystal Eye, before retiring from show business to focus on raising her children.
—EW.com, 30 Mar. 2024
Things change dramatically in terms of geography in 2024-25, with the Pac-12 breaking up in the name of football and dragging every other sport along with it.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2024
Turns out, even just a little bit of exercise can indeed help break up that bloated feeling: A post-meal stroll kick-starts digestion.
—Lizzy Briskin, SELF, 29 Mar. 2024
Since the exit of former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim in January of last year, NBC News has been broken up into smaller units, each with its own leader.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 26 Mar. 2024
Johnson broke up this fiscal year's spending bills into two parts as House Republicans revolted against what has become an annual practice of asking them to vote for one massive, complex bill called an omnibus with little time to review it or face a shutdown.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff and Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 23 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'breakup.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Breakup.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breakup. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
breakup
1 of 2 noun
break·up
ˈbrā-ˌkəp 
: an act or an instance of breaking up
break up
2 of 2 verb(ˈ)brā-ˈkəp
1
: to separate into parts
enzymes help break up protein molecules
2
: to bring or come to an end
the police broke up the demonstration
the party began to break up
3
: to end a romance
they dated for a while but broke up
4
: to go or cause to go into a fit of laughter
that joke always breaks me up
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