breaker

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English brekere, equivalent to break +‎ -er. Cognate with Dutch breker, German Brecher.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹeɪkə/
• (US) enPR: brāʹkər, IPA^(key): /ˈbɹeɪkɚ/
• Rhymes: -eɪkə(r)

Noun

breaker (plural breakers)

1. Something that breaks.
2. A machine for breaking rocks, or for breaking coal at the mines
3. The building in which such a machine is placed.
4. A person who specializes in breaking things.
5. (chiefly in the plural) A wave breaking into foam against the shore, or against a sandbank, or a rock or reef near the surface, considered a useful warning to ships of an underwater hazard
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 53

     Now and then in the lagoon you hear the leaping of a fish [...]. And above all, ceaseless like time, is the dull roar of the breakers on the reef.

   • 1925, Ezra Pound, Canto I:

     And then went down to the ship,

     Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea

   • 1979, Stan Rogers, The Flowers of Bermuda:

     There came a cry: Oh, there be breakers dead ahead! / From the collier, Nightingale,

6. (colloquial) A breakdancer.
7. A user of CB radio.

Synonyms

• (something that breaks): destroyer, wrecker
• (machine for breaking rocks or coal):
• (building containing such a machine):
• (wave):
• (breakdancer): B-boy (male), B-girl (female), breakdancer

Derived terms

Terms derived from breaker

• backbreaker
• ball-breaker
• bead breaker
• breaker's yard
• brick breaker
• circuit breaker
• codebreaker
• combo breaker
• deal breaker
• groundbreaker
• heartbreaker
• homebreaker

• horsebreaker
• housebreaker
• icebreaker
• jailbreaker
• jawbreaker
• lawbreaker
• leg-breaker
• matchbreaker
• nutbreaker
• oathbreaker
• pathbreaker
• peacebreaker

• rulebreaker
• safebreaker
• shipbreaker
• slave breaker
• stonebreaker
• strikebreaker
• sword-breaker
• tiebreaker
• trucebreaker
• visbreaker
• water breaker
• windbreaker

Translations

something that breaks

• Finnish: murskaaja (fi), murskain
• French: casseur (fr) m

• Japanese: 破壊者 (hakaisha)

machine for breaking rocks or coal

• Bulgarian: трошачка (bg) f (trošačka)
• Finnish: murskain
• French: concasseuse (fr) f

• German: Brecher (de) m
• Japanese: 破砕機 (hasaiki)
• Romanian: concasor (ro) n

building containing such a machine

small cask of water in case of shipwreck

• Bulgarian: буренце n (burence)

wave

• Bulgarian: разбиваща се вълна (razbivašta se vǎlna)
• Finnish: hyökyaalto (fi)
• French: lame (fr) f
• German: Brecher (de) m
• Irish: maidhm f, maidhm thoinne f

• Italian: cavallone (it) m
• Maori: puhitai
• Russian: буру́н (ru) m (burún)
• Welsh: moryn m, beiston f

breakdancer — see breakdancer

Etymology 2

Probably from Spanish bareca (“barrel”).

Noun

breaker (plural breakers)

1. A small cask of liquid kept permanently in a ship's boat in case of shipwreck.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4

     Then the conversation broke off, and there was little more talking, only a noise of men going backwards and forwards, and of putting down of kegs and the hollow gurgle of good liquor being poured from breakers into the casks.

Anagrams

• rebreak

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French

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʁɛ.kœʁ/

Noun

breaker m (plural breakers)

1. circuit breaker

Synonyms

• disjoncteur

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʁɛ.ke/

Verb

breaker

1. (tennis) To break (win a game when receiving)

Conjugation

Conjugation of breaker (see also Appendix:French verbs)

present participle		breakant /bʁɛ.kɑ̃/
past participle		breaké /bʁɛ.ke/
infinitive
simple		breaker
compound		avoir + past participle
gerund1
simple		breakant /bʁɛ.kɑ̃/
compound		ayant + past participle
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	breake /bʁɛk/	breakes /bʁɛk/	breake /bʁɛk/	breakons /bʁɛ.kɔ̃/	breakez /bʁɛ.ke/	breakent /bʁɛk/
	imperfect	breakais /bʁɛ.kɛ/	breakais /bʁɛ.kɛ/	breakait /bʁɛ.kɛ/	breakions /bʁɛ.kjɔ̃/	breakiez /bʁɛ.kje/	breakaient /bʁɛ.kɛ/
	past historic2	breakai /bʁɛ.kɛ/	breakas /bʁɛ.ka/	breaka /bʁɛ.ka/	breakâmes /bʁɛ.kam/	breakâtes /bʁɛ.kat/	breakèrent /bʁɛ.kɛʁ/
	future	breakerai /bʁɛ.kʁɛ/	breakeras /bʁɛ.kʁa/	breakera /bʁɛ.kʁa/	breakerons /bʁɛ.kʁɔ̃/	breakerez /bʁɛ.kʁe/	breakeront /bʁɛ.kʁɔ̃/
	conditional	breakerais /bʁɛ.kʁɛ/	breakerais /bʁɛ.kʁɛ/	breakerait /bʁɛ.kʁɛ/	breakerions /bʁɛ.kə.ʁjɔ̃/	breakeriez /bʁɛ.kə.ʁje/	breakeraient /bʁɛ.kʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	breake /bʁɛk/	breakes /bʁɛk/	breake /bʁɛk/	breakions /bʁɛ.kjɔ̃/	breakiez /bʁɛ.kje/	breakent /bʁɛk/
	imperfect2	breakasse /bʁɛ.kas/	breakasses /bʁɛ.kas/	breakât /bʁɛ.ka/	breakassions /bʁɛ.ka.sjɔ̃/	breakassiez /bʁɛ.ka.sje/	breakassent /bʁɛ.kas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	breake /bʁɛk/	—	breakons /bʁɛ.kɔ̃/	breakez /bʁɛ.ke/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 Only usable with preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• débreaker