brain drain - a loss of trained professional personnel to another company, nation, etc., that offers greater opportunity.
brandy mint - peppermint
But I much prefer asking for a brandy mint patty. It makes me sound like an alcoholicbrass-collar - unwaveringly faithful to a political party; voting the straight ticket:
a brass-collar Republican. bread-and-butter pickle - an unpeeled slice of cucumber marinated in salt water and boiled with vinegar, celery seed, spices, and brown sugar.
breastwork - a defensive work, usually breast high.
This is the problem with having mixed gender units. "I'm impressed, Private. This is your breast...I mean best work"Brecksville - a town in N Ohio. 10,132.
Yay for being in the dictionarybreak -
–verb (used with object) 1. | to smash, split, or divide into parts violently; reduce to pieces or fragments: He broke a vase. |
2. | to infringe, ignore, or act contrary to (a law, rule, promise, etc.): She broke her promise. |
3. | to dissolve or annul (often fol. by off): to break off friendly relations with another country. |
4. | to fracture a bone of (some part of the body): He broke his leg. |
5. | to lacerate; wound: to break the skin. |
6. | to destroy or interrupt the regularity, uniformity, continuity, or arrangement of; interrupt: The bleating of a foghorn broke the silence. The troops broke formation. |
7. | to put an end to; overcome; stop: His touchdown run broke the tie. She found it hard to break the cigarette habit. |
8. | to discover the system, key, method, etc., for decoding or deciphering (a cryptogram), esp. by the methods of cryptanalysis. |
9. | to remove a part from (a set or collection): She had to break the set to sell me the two red ones I wanted. |
10. | to exchange for or divide into smaller units or components: She broke a dollar bill into change. The prism broke the light into all the colors of the rainbow. |
11. | to make a way through; penetrate: The stone broke the surface of the water. |
12. | Law. a. | to open or force one's way into (a dwelling, store, etc.). | b. | to contest (a will) successfully by judicial action. | |
13. | to make one's way out of, esp. by force: to break jail. |
14. | to better (a given score or record): He never broke 200 in bowling or 80 in golf. |
15. | to disclose or divulge personally in speech or writing: He broke the good news to her at dinner. |
16. | to solve: The police needed only a week to break that case. |
17. | to rupture (a blood vessel): She almost broke a blood vessel from laughing so hard. |
18. | to disable or destroy by or as if by shattering or crushing: to break a watch. |
19. | to cause (a blister, boil, or the like) to burst, as by puncturing: She broke the blister with a needle. |
20. | to ruin financially; make bankrupt: They threatened to break him if he didn't stop discounting their products. |
21. | to overcome or wear down the spirit, strength, or resistance of; to cause to yield, esp. under pressure, torture, or the like: They broke him by the threat of blackmail. |
22. | to dismiss or reduce in rank. |
23. | to impair or weaken the power, effect, or intensity of: His arm broke the blow. |
24. | to train to obedience; tame: to break a horse. |
25. | to train away from a habit or practice (usually fol. by of). |
26. | Electricity. to render (a circuit) incomplete; stop the flow of (a current). |
27. | Journalism. a. | to release (a story) for publication or airing on radio or television: They will break the story tomorrow. | b. | to continue (a story or article) on another page, esp. when the page is not the following one. | |
28. | Pool. to cause (racked billiard balls) to scatter by striking with the cue ball. |
29. | Sports. a. | (of a pitcher, bowler, etc.) to hurl (a ball) in such a way as to cause it to change direction after leaving the hand: He broke a curve over the plate for a strike. | b. | (in tennis and other racket games) to score frequently or win against (an opponent's serve). | |
30. | Nautical. to unfurl (a flag) suddenly by an easily released knot. |
31. | to prove the falsity or show the lack of logic of: The FBI broke his alibi by proving he knew how to shoot a pistol. |
32. | to begin or initiate (a plan or campaign), esp. with much publicity: They were going to break the sales campaign with a parade in April. |
33. | to open the breech or action of (a shotgun, rifle, or revolver), as by snapping open the hinge between the barrel and the butt. |
–verb (used without object) 34. | to shatter, burst, or become broken; separate into parts or fragments, esp. suddenly and violently: The glass broke on the floor. |
35. | to become suddenly discontinuous or interrupted; stop abruptly: She pulled too hard and the string broke. |
36. | to become detached, separated, or disassociated (usually fol. by away, off, or from): The knob broke off in his hand. |
37. | to become inoperative or to malfunction, as through wear or damage: The television set broke this afternoon. |
38. | to begin suddenly or violently or change abruptly into something else: War broke over Europe. |
39. | to begin uttering a sound or series of sounds or to be uttered suddenly: She broke into song. When they entered, a cheer broke from the audience. |
40. | to express or start to express an emotion or mood: His face broke into a smile. |
41. | to free oneself or escape suddenly, as from restraint or dependency (often fol. by away): He broke away from the arresting officer. She finally broke away from her parents and got an apartment of her own. |
42. | to run or dash toward something suddenly (usually fol. by for): The pass receiver broke for the goal line. |
43. | to force a way (usually fol. by in, into, or through): The hunters broke through the underbrush. |
44. | to burst or rupture: A blood vessel broke in his nose. The blister broke when he pricked it. |
45. | to interrupt or halt an activity (usually fol. by in, into, forth, or from): Don't break in on the conversation. Let's break for lunch. |
46. | to appear or arrive suddenly (usually fol. by in, into, or out): A deer broke into the clearing. A rash broke out on her arm. |
47. | to dawn: The day broke hot and sultry. |
48. | to begin violently and suddenly: The storm broke. |
49. | (of a storm, foul weather, etc.) to cease: The weather broke after a week, and we were able to sail for home. |
50. | to part the surface of water, as a jumping fish or surfacing submarine. |
51. | to give way or fail, as health, strength, or spirit; collapse: After years of hardship and worry, his health broke. |
52. | to yield or submit to pressure, torture, or the like: He broke under questioning. |
53. | (of the heart) to be overwhelmed with sorrow: Her heart broke when he told her that he no longer loved her. |
54. | (of the voice or a musical instrument) to change harshly from one register or pitch to another: After his voice broke, he could no longer sing soprano parts. |
55. | (of the voice) to cease, waver, or change tone abruptly, esp. from emotional strain: His voice broke when he mentioned her name. |
56. | (of value or prices) to drop sharply and considerably. |
57. | to disperse or collapse by colliding with something: The waves broke on the shore. |
59. | (of a horse in a harness race) to fail to keep to a trot or pace, as by starting to gallop. |
60. | Botany. to mutate; sport. |
61. | Linguistics. to undergo breaking. |
62. | Billiards, Pool. to make a break; take the first turn in a game. |
63. | Sports. (of a pitched or bowled ball) to change direction: The ball broke over the plate. |
64. | Horse Racing, Track. to leave the starting point: The horses broke fast from the gate. |
65. | Boxing. to step back or separate from a clinch: The fighters fell into a clinch and broke on the referee's order. |
66. | to take place; occur. |
67. | Journalism. to become known, published, or aired: The story broke in the morning papers. |
68. | Horticulture. to produce flowers or leaves. |
–noun 69. | an act or instance of breaking; disruption or separation of parts; fracture; rupture: There was a break in the window. |
70. | an opening made by breaking; gap: The break in the wall had not been repaired. |
71. | a rush away from a place; an attempt to escape: a break for freedom. |
72. | a sudden dash or rush, as toward something: When the rain lessened, I made a break for home. |
73. | a suspension of or sudden rupture in friendly relations. |
74. | an interruption of continuity; departure from or rupture with: Abstract painters made a break with the traditions of the past. |
75. | an abrupt or marked change, as in sound or direction, or a brief pause: They noticed a curious break in his voice. |
76. | Informal. a. | an opportunity or stroke of fortune, esp. a lucky one. | b. | a chance to improve one's lot, esp. one unlooked for or undeserved. | |
77. | the breaks, Informal. the way things happen; fate: Sorry to hear about your bad luck, but I guess those are the breaks. |
78. | a brief rest, as from work: The actors took a ten-minute break from rehearsal. |
79. | Radio, Television. a brief, scheduled interruption of a program or broadcasting period for the announcement of advertising or station identification. |
80. | Prosody. a pause or caesura. |
81. | Jazz. a solo passage, usually of from 2 to 12 bars, during which the rest of the instruments are silent. |
82. | Music. the point in the scale where the quality of voice of one register changes to that of another, as from chest to head. |
84. | a sharp and considerable drop in the prices of stock issues. |
85. | Electricity. an opening or discontinuity in a circuit. |
86. | Printing. a. | one or more blank lines between two paragraphs. | |
87. | the place, after a letter, where a word is or may be divided at the end of a line. |
88. | a collapse of health, strength, or spirit; breakdown. |
89. | Informal. an indiscreet or awkward remark or action; social blunder; faux pas. |
90. | Billiards, Pool. a series of successful strokes; run. |
91. | Pool. the opening play, in which the cue ball is shot to scatter the balls. |
92. | Sports. a change in direction of a pitched or bowled ball. |
93. | Horse Racing, Track. the start of a race. |
94. | (in harness racing) an act or instance of a horse's changing from a trot or pace into a gallop or other step. |
95. | Bowling. a failure to knock down all ten pins in a single frame. |
96. | Boxing. an act or instance of stepping back or separating from a clinch: a clean break. |
97. | any of several stages in the grinding of grain in which the bran is separated from the kernel. |
99. | Journalism. the point at the bottom of a column where a printed story is carried over to another column or page. |
100. | Nautical. the place at which a superstructure, deckhouse, or the like, rises from the main deck of a vessel. |
101. | breaks, Physical Geography. an area dissected by small ravines and gullies. |
102. | Mining. a fault or offset, as in a vein or bed of ore. |
—Verb phrases 103. | break away, a. | to leave or escape, esp. suddenly or hurriedly. | b. | to sever connections or allegiance, as to tradition or a political group. | c. | to start prematurely: The horse broke away from the starting gate. | |
104. | break back, Tennis. to win a game served by an opponent immediately after the opponent has done so against one's own serve. |
105. | break down, a. | to become ineffective. | b. | to lose control; weaken: He broke down and wept at the sad news. | c. | to have a physical or mental collapse. | d. | to cease to function: The car broke down. | e. | to itemize: to break down a hotel bill into daily charges. | f. | Chemistry. to separate (a compound) into its constituent molecules. | g. | Electricity. (of an insulator) to fail, as when subjected to excessively high voltage, permitting a current to pass. | k. | to separate into constituent parts: to break down a beef carcass into basic cuts. | |
106. | break in, a. | to enter by force or craft: Someone broke in and made off with all the furniture. | b. | to train or instruct; initiate: The boss is breaking in a new assistant. | c. | to begin to wear or use in order to make comfortable: These shoes haven't been broken in. | d. | to interrupt: He broke in with a ridiculous objection. | e. | to run (new machinery) initially under reduced load and speed, until any stiffness of motion has departed and all parts are ready to operate under normal service conditions; run in; wear in. | |
107. | break in on or upon, to enter with force upon or accidentally interrupt; intrude upon: The visitor opened the wrong door and broke in on a private conference. |
108. | break into, a. | to interpose; interrupt: He broke into the conversation at a crucial moment. | b. | to begin some activity. | c. | to be admitted into; enter, as a business or profession: It is difficult to break into the theater. | d. | to enter by force: They broke into the store and stole the safe. | |
109. | break off, b. | to stop suddenly; discontinue: to break off a conversation; to break off relations with one's neighbors. | |
110. | break out, a. | to begin abruptly; arise: An epidemic broke out. | b. | Pathology. (of certain diseases) to appear in eruptions. | c. | (of a person) to manifest a skin eruption. | d. | to prepare for use: to break out the parachutes. | e. | to take out of (storage, concealment, etc.) for consumption: to break out one's best wine. | f. | Nautical. to dislodge (the anchor) from the bottom. | g. | to escape; flee: He spent three years in prison before he broke out. | h. | to separate into categories or list specific items: to break out gift ideas according to price range; The report breaks out quarterly profits and losses. | |
111. | break up, b. | to put an end to; discontinue. | c. | to divide or become divided into pieces. | e. | to disrupt; upset: Television commercials during a dramatic presentation break up the continuity of effect. | f. | (of a personal relationship) to end: to break up a friendship; Their marriage broke up last year. | g. | to end a personal relationship: Bob and Mary broke up last month. | h. | to be or cause to be overcome with laughter: The comedian told several jokes that broke up the audience. | |
112. | break with, a. | to sever relations with; separate from: to break with one's family. | b. | to depart from; repudiate: to break with tradition. | |
—Idioms 113. | break bulk, Nautical. to remove a cargo wholly or in part. |
114. | break camp, to pack up tents and equipment and resume a journey or march: They broke camp at dawn and proceeded toward the mountains. |
115. | break even, to finish a business transaction, period of gambling, series of games, etc., with no loss or gain: He played poker all night and broke even. |
116. | break ground, a. | to begin construction, esp. of a building or group of buildings: to break ground for a new housing development. | b. | Nautical. to free an anchor from the bottom; break out. | |
117. | break it down, Australian Slang. b. | (used as an exclamation of disbelief) that can't be true! | |
118. | break one's heart. heart (def. 20). |
119. | break service, Tennis. to win a game served by one's opponent. |
120. | break sheer, Nautical. (of an anchored vessel) to drift into such a position as to risk fouling the anchor or anchor cable. Compare sheer 2 (def. 6). |
121. | break step. step (def. 37). |
122. | break wind. wind 1 (def. 26). |
Funny thing is, most of these definitions are just figurative usages of the primary definition.
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