breachn.
/briːtʃ/, U.S. /britʃ/ I. The action of breaking.† 1. † b. breach of the day: ‘break’ of day. Obsolete.† 4. An irruption into; an infringement upon; an inroad, injurious assault. Obsolete.
a. The physical action of breaking; the fact of being broken; breakage, fracture. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [noun]
breachOE
breakingc975
brusure1382
breaka1400
crasure1413
chininga1420
bursting1487
bruisinga1500
fraction?a1560
chinking1565
springingc1595
infraction1623
disruption1646
abruption1654
diruption1656
chapping1669
chopping1669
fracturea1676
rumple1746
breakage1775
disrupture1785
fracturing1830
disruptment1834
snapping1891
fractionation1926
OE Guthlac A 698 Ne sy him banes bryce, ne blodig wund, lices læla ne laþes wiht.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 8220 Sua depe the rotis samen kest, þat miht na man þaim þeden winne widuten breche [Trin. Cambr. brekyng].
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 346 By violence of bretch and ruins great.
1629 J. Gaule Distractions 295 The casuall breach of a Crystall Glasse.
1676 M. Hale Contempl. Moral & Divine i. 52 The breach of a vein..may put a period to all those pleasures.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > dawn > [noun]
aristc825
dawingc900
dayeOE
day-rimOE
day-redOE
mornOE
lightOE
lightingOE
dawning1297
day-rowa1300
grekinga1300
uprista1300
dayninga1325
uprisingc1330
sun arisingc1350
springc1380
springingc1380
day-springa1382
morrowingc1384
dayingc1400
daylighta1425
upspring1471
aurora1483
sky1515
orienta1522
breaking of the day1523
daybreak1530
day-peep1530
morrow dayc1530
peep of the morning1530
prick of the day?1533
morning1535
day-breaking1565
creek1567
sunup1572
breach of the day1579
break of day or morn1584
peep of day1587
uprise1594
dawna1616
day-dawn1616
peep of dawn1751
strike of day1790
skreigh1802
sunbreak1822
day-daw1823
screech1829
dayclean1835
sun dawn1835
first light1838
morning-red1843
piccaninny sun1846
piccaninny daylightc1860
gloaming1873
glooming1877
sparrow-fart1886
crack1887
sun-spring1900
piccaninny dawn1936
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin xiv. 821 The assault began about the breach of the daye.
2. The breaking of waves on a coast or over a vessel; hence, the nautical phr. clean, clear breach.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > [noun] > breaking or dashing
beating?c1225
jasch1513
wash1579
plash breach1582
breacha1616
breaking1647
plunge1781
jow1820
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > [noun] > carrying away of masts > and gear
clean, clear breach1867
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > types of waves > [noun] > other
way1578
wake1753
clean, clear breach1867
feather-spray1867
south-western1872
bow-wave1877
gravity wave1877
blind roller1888
gravitational wave1899
Kelvin wave1922
rooster tail1934
slide1935
bow shock1938
beacher1956
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. i. 20 Before you tooke me from the breach of the sea. View more context for this quotation
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 50 She [sc. a boat] would be dash'd in..Pieces by the Breach of the Sea.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 129 Clear breach, the waves rolling clean over without breaking..Clean-breach, when masts and every object on deck is swept away.
3.
a. figurative. The breaking of a command, rule, engagement, duty, or of any legal or moral bond or obligation; violation, infraction: common in such phrases as breach of contract, breach of covenant, breach of faith, breach of promise, breach of trust.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > [noun] > breach of rule or custom
breacha1382
transgression1426
violation1433
prevarication1561
forfeiture1575
contravention1579
infringement1628
temeration1641
contravening1645
infraction1673
the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > non-observance or breach > [noun]
borrow-breacha900
brucheOE
breacha1382
violation1433
rupture1439
non-observance1453
misobservance1496
violating1523
swerving1545
infringinga1575
inobservation1579
recess1601
inobservancea1626
infringement1628
misobservancy1637
egression1651
nonconformity1653
unobservance1654
brack1658
infraction1673
violence1743
non-conformance1786
inobservancy1824
c1025 Eccl. Laws of Cnut 24 Wið æȝhwylcne æwbryce.]
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. iii. 13 To the Lord thi God thou hast do lawe breche.
c1440 York Myst. v. 143 Lorde, Eue garte me do wronge and to þat bryg me brought.
1533–4 Act 25 Hen. VIII xvii Attempted the breche or violacion of the same statutes.
?1560 T. Norton Orations of Arsanes sig. A.iii Those whoes Antichristian Popish doctrine pronounceth open allowrance of breach of fayth to Christians whome they call heretikes.
1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 13 Better then the breach of ani custum.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost ii. i. 169 Receiue such welcome..As honor (without breach of honor) may, Make tender of. View more context for this quotation
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ii. 143 Nuptial breaches . View more context for this quotation
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus iii. 1 Who..liue in the breach of Gods commaundement.
1619 J. Taylor Kicksey Winsey sig. B7 They being Romists, I a Protestant: Their Apostaticall Iniunctions saith, To keepe their faith with me, is breach of faith.
a1640 P. Massinger Bashful Lover iv. ii. 68 in 3 New Playes (1655) A vertue, and not to be blended With vitious breach of faith.
1659 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. Psalms (xxv. 7 Paraphr.) 141 The breaches innumerable, wherewith I have..offended against thee.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 262. ⁋7 Nor shall I look upon it as any Breach of Charity.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World i. 202 With Breach of Faith, and with Cruelty and Barbarity.
1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind ii. §6. 109 They can..break them and be punished for the breach.
1803 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) II. 174 In breach of your promises to me.
1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike (new ed.) iv. 53 Convicted of a breach of contract.
1834 T. Arnold in A. P. Stanley Life & Corr. T. Arnold (1844) I. vii. 379 What it would be a breach of duty in me to omit.
1879 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. II. xvi. 370 The breach of the truce by the Scots.
b. spec. and technical, as breach of arrestment n. illegal disposal of property which has been ‘attached’, or placed under the control of a law-court. breach of close n. unlawful entry upon private ground, trespass. breach of peace n. (also breach of the peace) an infringement or violation of the public peace by an affray, riot, or other disturbance. breach of pound n. the action of breaking into a pound or similar enclosure without right or warrant. breach of prison n. escape of a prisoner from confinement. breach of privilege n. a violation of the rights of a privileged body. breach of promise n. gen. as in preceding sense; spec. = breach of promise to marry.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > non-observance or breach > [noun] > particular types of
refusal1482
vow-breaking1533
stretch1541
breach of promise1613
vow-break1646
vow-breach1647
breach of privilege1650
fedifraction1650
breach1841
repudiation1842
stand-up1921
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > breach of peace
grithbreachc1000
mundbreachc1210
breach of peace1671
unstillness1846
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 631 Which Boferes after with like perfidiousnes, and breach of promise, requited on three thousand Marochians.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. i. 49 You vse this dalliance to excuse Your breach of promise to the Porpentine.
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico ii. 30 They..might fairly declaim against [it] by the name of Breach of Priviledge.
1671 F. Philipps Regale Necessarium 50 For the breach of the peace 120 shillings.
1786 W. Paley Princ. Moral & Polit. Philos. (ed. 2) iii. i. xvi. 164 God will punish false swearing with more severity than a simple lie, or breach of promise.
1817 Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 796 The Speaker said..the House should pronounce, whether the passage in the work..was or was not a breach of privilege.
1865 Derby Mercury 1 Mar. Alleged contempt of that House, and a breach of its privileges.
1888 N.E.D. at Breach Mod. The damages in a breach-of-promise case.
1895 G. B. Shaw Shaw on Theatre (1958) 61 Trial by Jury is..unintelligible except as a satire on..the breach-of-promise suit.
1949 M. Mead Male & Female xv. 299 Breach-of-promise cases are a silly excrescence in a world in which women do half the proposing.
c. In colloquial use, short for breach of promise n. at sense 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > non-observance or breach > [noun] > particular types of
refusal1482
vow-breaking1533
stretch1541
breach of promise1613
vow-break1646
vow-breach1647
breach of privilege1650
fedifraction1650
breach1841
repudiation1842
stand-up1921
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. viii. 122 There's the chance of an action for breach.
1905 Daily Chron. 16 Aug. 6/7 ‘The breach action was not brought by her,’ said Mr. Burnett, opening the present proceedings on behalf of the major.
1905 Daily Chron. 16 Aug. 6/7 At the breach trial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [noun]
assault1297
venuea1330
scoura1400
wassailc1400
frayc1430
brunta1450
sault1510
onseta1522
attemptate1524
onsetting1541
breach1578
dint1579
objectiona1586
invasion1591
extent1594
grassation1610
attack1655
run1751
wrack1863
mayhem1870
serve1967
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > [noun] > violent
breakc1565
irruption1577
breach1578
breaking1617
inbreaking1652
inruption1809
inbreak1837
inburst1837
break-in1856
inbursting1858
incrash1861
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [noun] > attack by hostile measures or words
bruntc1425
assaultc1449
battery1562
onset1566
brash1573
breach1578
onslaught1613
onfall1646
attack1653
assay?1705
to return to the charge1752
arietation1797
set-to1808
set1829
dead set1835
go-in1858
on-ding1871
hatchet work1938
blitzkrieg1939
blitz1940
carpet bombing1956
bowling1959
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 35 The Axiomaes of Aristotle,..haue sodaynelye made..a breache into my minde.
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Chron. xiii. 11 The Lord had made a breach vpon Vzza. View more context for this quotation
1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 58 Your connivence with the Irish butcheries, your forgetfull breaches upon the Parliament.
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Hist. Rebellion (1702) I. i. 20 Which Breach, upon his Kingly power, was so much without a President [etc.].
1751 J. Addison Freeholder No. 13. 77 Innocent of the great Breach which is made upon Government.
5.
a. A breaking of relations (of union or continuity).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > [noun] > disjunction, disunion, or disconnection
unknittingc1384
discretiona1398
disjunctionc1400
disjuncturec1400
discouplingc1425
unjoining?c1425
unjointing?c1425
disjoining1530
disunion1598
breach1625
disunity1632
disconnection1663
disjointure1757
disjointing1794
disarticulation1808
non-union1823
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) iii. 11 Nothing, doth so much..driue Men out of the Church, as Breach of Vnity.
1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 162 By the breach and dissolution of..the relation itself.
1775 G. Stuart tr. J. L. de Lolme Constit. Eng. i. i. 13 They compleated the breach of those feeble ties.
1888 N.E.D. at Breach Mod. It could not be done without a breach of continuity.
b. absol. A break-up of friendly relations; rupture, separation, difference, disagreement, quarrel.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > quarrel or falling out > [noun]
slit1390
variancec1425
quarrellingc1460
falling out1539
quarrel1566
feud1568
breach1573
rupture1583
outcast1620
outfall1647
outfallingc1650
fallout1725
split1729
break-off1860
society > society and the community > dissent > [noun] > division or lack of unity > a state or instance of
slit1390
breach1573
rent1580
rifta1609
split1729
split-up1878
1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 17 A litle breach betwixt thes twoo and me was the tru and onli caus of al thes sturs.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie B 1102 Breach of friendes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iv. i. 238 There's falne betweene him and my Lord, An vnkind breach . View more context for this quotation
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 459 A great breach was like to follow.
1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. ix. 218 The nearest actual approach to a breach was..when their simple pastoral monument of stones was mistaken..for an altar.
6. The leaping of a whale clear out of the water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [noun] > large member of (whale) > leaping out of water
breach1843
breaching1843
1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 294/2 The breach may be seen in a clear day from the mast-head at a distance of six miles.
II. The product of breaking.† 8. Surf made by the sea breaking over rocks; broken water, breakers. Obsolete.† 9. A break in a coast, a bay, harbour. Obsolete. Cf. break n.1 7b.† 10. A break in continuity, an interruption, interval; a division marked by breaks or intervals.1864 E. Capern Devon Provincialism Breach, a plot of land prepared for another crop.
7. A physically broken or ruptured condition of anything; a broken, fractured, damaged, or injured spot, place, or part; an injury.† a. of the body. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun]
clakec1000
wemming1100
hurt?c1225
un-i-soundc1275
breach1398
wrethec1400
discomfiture1599
tort1632
personal injury1653
punishment1811
insult1903
sports injury1932
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vii. lv. 270 Yf that breche [hernia] is grete and olde and wyth brekyng of the synewe it is sondred vneth or neuer.
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 118 It cureth also fistulas, old breaches, and temporall byles.
1665 Voy. E.-India in G. Havers tr. P. della Valle Trav. E. India 395 Shewing him his hand and his other breaches.
b. A disrupted place, gap, or fissure, caused by the separation of continuous parts; a break.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > opening or break in continuity
breakinga1300
breaka1400
interval1489
breach1530
gapa1616
discontinuity1676
puka1921
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 201/1 Breche where water breke in, breche.
1555 R. Eden tr. S. von Herberstein Rerum moscouiticarum commentarii in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 292 The yearth hath many great chynkes or breaches.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia v. 174 The salt water..entred at the large breaches of their poore wooden castle.
1653 T. Manton Pract. Comm. James iii. 5 Small breaches in a sea-bank let in great inundations.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 79. §11 The crew implore the liberty of repairing their breaches.
c. esp. ‘A gap in a fortification made by a battery’ (Johnson). Hence to stand in the breach (often figurative).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > [noun] > destruction of walls > breach made in walls
breach1598
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres v. 138 To ruinate their Curtine, and make good breaches.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iv. 49 To come off the breach, with his pike bent brauely. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms cvi. 23 Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach [ Coverdale, gap].
1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 363 The Town was easily gained by Scaling Ladders, and Breaches.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 428. ⁋2 No Soldier entering a Breach adventures more for Honour.
1799 Duke of Wellington Let. in Dispatches (1834) I. 29 On the 3rd of May the breach appeared to be practicable.
1814 W. Scott Waverley I. xiii. 184 Being the first to mount the breach . View more context for this quotation
d. figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > [noun] > damaged or injured part
breach1608
wrack1610
bruise1670
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxi. 13 Cure this great breach in his abused nature. View more context for this quotation
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar iii. Ded. Let. To bind up the great breaches of my little fortune.
1657 Bp. J. Taylor in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. 106 By your wise counsel and comfort stand in the breaches of your own family.
a1713 Ld. Shaftesbury Let. conc. Design in Characteristicks (1715) III. 398 An unhappy Breach in my Health..forc'd me to seek these foreign Climates.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 152 Vice breaks in at the breaches of Decency.
1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy II. ii. 45 To heal the breach in his wounded honour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > foam or surf > [noun] > surf > breaking over rocks or reefs
breach1624
reef break1965
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia (1629) 19 We found many shoules and breaches.
1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 18 A shoule, a ledge of rockes, a breach, a shallow water.
1707 London Gaz. No. 4380/3 The Royal Anne..saw several Breaches, and soon after, the Rocks above Water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > bend in coast > [noun] > bay or gulf
bay1385
bosomc1400
gulfc1400
gouffre1477
break?1520
reach1526
bight1555
opening1576
sine1605
breach1611
cod1611
traversea1645
sinus1684
embayment1815
1611 Bible (King James) Judges v. 17 Asher continued on the sea shore and abode in his breaches [L. portubus, Wyclif hauens] . View more context for this quotation
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > continuity or uninterruptedness > discontinuity or interrupted condition > [noun] > a break in continuity
interruption1390
breach1589
hiatus1613
chasm1654
solution of continuity1654
gap1670
caesura1846
break-in1856
breakage1871
scission1884
time out1892
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xix. 33 By breaches or diuisions to be more commodiously song to the harpe.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xxvi. 41 This Epithalamie was deuided by breaches into three partes... The first breach was song at the first parte of the night.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. iv. sig. Ff3v And all her sister Nymphes..Supplide her sobbing breaches with sad complement.
11. A condition of broken relations; a gap in sentiment or sympathy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > state of variance or disunion > [noun]
unsaughtnessa1000
unsaughta1122
schismc1425
variancec1425
variationc1485
variety1546
breach1745
strain1884
1745 J. Wesley Answer to Rev. Church 1 I do not want..to widen the Breach between us.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. v. 104 The breach was speedily made up between them.
1863 Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 171 1829 Create an everlasting breach between the people of England and the people of the United States of America.
12. A piece of land broken up by the plough. dialect.
ΚΠ
1594 H. Plat Diuerse Sorts of Soyle 43 (margin) in Jewell House Erith breaches [that surrounded leuell at Erith].
1594 H. Plat Diuerse Sorts of Soyle 43 in Jewell House That exceeding fertilitie which I haue herd commended in those two breaches, euen by the seuerall farmers thereof.
Draft additions March 2014
more honoured in the breach (than the observance) and variants: used to refer to an unjust rule or objectionable custom which is better broken than obeyed or observed. Later also: used to refer to a just rule that, in practice is often broken (though this usage is sometimes deprecated).
ΚΠ
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. iv. 18 It [sc. drunken revelry at court] is a custome, more honourd in the breach, Then in the obseruance.
1750 Compar. Horace of Corneille & Rom. Father of Mr. Whitehead 3 'Tis a barbarous Custom [sc. catcalling in theatres]..and, as Hamlet says, More honoured in the Breach than the Observance.
1788 Public Advertiser 17 May The custom of attending at Court on Sunday, however long established and highly sanctioned, would be more honoured in the breach than in the observance.
1832 S. G. Goodrich Syst. Universal Geogr. xxii. 260 In the cities, the custom [sc. of drinking juleps] is, perhaps, ‘more honored in the breach, than the observance’; but in the country..it is a general and daily practice to indulge in these drams.
1896 Amer. Bookmaker Jan. 11/2 The old-time rule that en quads shall be used in poetry is now more honored in the breach than in the observance.
1914 Med. Summary Mar. 21/1 Among the things more honored in the breach than the observance is the practice of giving medicines when there is really no necessity for it.
1957 T. W. Freeman Pre-famine Ireland ii. 22 Leases generally contained a stipulation, sometimes more honoured in the breach, that no subletting or subdivision would be permitted.
1981 Salina (Kansas) Jrnl. 2 Apr. 4/5 We fight off gun control, honoring in the breach the few laws that do get passed.
2006 Times 25 Nov. 18/1 Although we all know that sitting down as a family is good and grazing on the hoof or eating slumped in front of TV is bad, the rules we make are often more honoured in the breach than the observance.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
breachv.
/briːtʃ/, U.S. /britʃ/ 1. 1979 Economist 23 June 81/1 When the ecu limits are breached, the offending currency is supposed to take action.1982 Observer 17 Oct. 18/3 London's ‘FT’ 30-share index breached the 600 mark.1984 Economist 10 Mar. 52/2 So far, Mr Nakasone has not dared to breach the 1% mark.
a. transitive. To make a breach in (a wall, defence, natural boundary, etc.); to break through.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > attack [verb (transitive)] > penetrate by force
force1695
breach1803
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > making holes or becoming holed > make (an opening or hole) [verb (transitive)] > make an opening or hole in or into > make gaps or breaches in
slap1513
breach1803
gap1893
1803 Duke of Wellington Let. 6 Nov. in Dispatches (1837) II. 479 If the wall..should be breached when the place shall be stormed.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. iv. 149 The English had breached the fort.
1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) xx. 477 Every reef of the fringing-class is breached by a narrow gateway in front of the smallest rivulet.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 193 It often happens that the lava..breaches one side of the conical hill.
b. figurative; spec. in Financial and Stock Exchange jargon, to go beyond (above or below) (a figure). Cf. break v. 9c.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (transitive)] > performance of shares or prices
breach1547
shed1947
break1964
split1967
underperform1975
1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe i. f. C [Obliviousness] maye come to yonge men & women, whan theyr mynde is bryched.
c. intransitive. To develop a breach, to become broken through.
ΚΠ
1894 C. Moncrieff in Working Men's Coll. Jrnl. 153 If by any chance an embankment breached and a province was flooded.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > quarrel or falling out > quarrel or fall at variance [verb (intransitive)]
varyc1450
quarrel1530
square1530
to fall offa1535
breach1573
snarl1593
snarl1597
breaka1616
to break offa1645
to cast out1730
to get wrong1803
split1835
split1843
society > society and the community > dissent > be in dissension or at variance [verb (intransitive)] > become disunited
breach1573
subdivide1581
splita1732
society > society and the community > dissent > be in dissension or at variance [verb (intransitive)] > cause dissension > cause a breach
breach1573
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 2 At first for want of teaching, at first for trifles breaching.
1641 R. Greville Disc. Nature Episcopacie i. ix. 52 If the Church will breach (with the Anabaptists).
3. Nautical. Of whales: To leap out of the water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [verb (intransitive)] > miscellaneous actions of whale
calvec1000
spout1683
blow1726
peak1839
sound1839
fluke1840
mill1840
breach1843
white-water1856
round1881
1843 [implied in: Penny Cycl. XXVII. 294/2 Other habits of this whale, such as ‘breaching’, or leaping clear out of the water and falling back again on its side. (at breaching n. 2)].
1854 Chamb. Journ. I. 53 ‘There she blows again!.. There she breaches.’
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. vi. 167 They saw the witch-whale again..spouting, and breaching.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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