Definition

1. Verb:
   • To end a relationship or association: To deliberately and formally terminate a connection, alliance, or tradition with a person, group, or established practice.
   • To depart from a custom or pattern: To stop following a traditional or habitual way of doing things.

Usage

• The verb "break with" is transitive and requires an object (e.g., a person, country, tradition). It describes a decisive and often final separation.
• It is commonly used in formal, political, and personal contexts to signify a clean and intentional split.

Examples

• Verb:
  • The senator decided to break with her party over the controversial policy.
  • To innovate, the artist had to break with the conventions of the past.
  • He broke with his family after a long-standing disagreement.

Advanced Usage

• "to break with tradition": to stop following long-established customs.
  • The new CEO broke with tradition by allowing casual dress every day.
• "to break with the past": to make a conscious departure from previous habits or history.
  • The country's new constitution represents a decisive break with the past.

Variants and Related Words

• Break (verb): To separate into pieces; to interrupt. (Note: This is the root verb, distinct from the phrasal verb "break with").
• Breakup (noun): The end of a relationship.
  • The breakup of the partnership was announced yesterday.

Synonyms

• Sever ties with: To cut off a relationship.
• Part company with: To end an association or go separate ways.
• Renounce: To formally declare abandonment.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Break away from: To leave a group or tradition, often to become independent.
  • Several members broke away from the main organization to form their own group.
• Break off: To end something abruptly (e.g., talks, an engagement).
  • They broke off diplomatic relations.

Related Idioms

• Make a clean break: To end a relationship or situation completely and finally, without any remaining connections.
  • After the scandal, he moved to another city to make a clean break.

Verb

1. end a relationship
   • China broke with Russia