| 释义 |
break something off1Remove something from a larger unit or whole: Tucker broke off a piece of bread...- Growing plants are influenced strongly by their environment - some leaves grow more strongly than others because of the light falling on them; some buds are chewed by herbivores, and whole branches are broken off.
- You break pieces off, and one or two of the more co-operative chimps would come down.
- You will probably have noticed that when you take a branch from certain trees (some conifers for example), the branch looks like a miniature version of the tree, and when you break a piece off the branch, that looks like a tree too.
Synonyms snap off, pull off, sever, detach, separate rare dissever 2Abruptly end or discontinue something: Britain threatened to break off diplomatic relations...- The first attack took place after diplomatic relations had been broken off but before the formal declaration of war.
- He has been engaged twice but both women broke it off abruptly before the wedding.
- She temporarily broke the relationship off in the early stages, alarmed by the sudden intensity it had taken on.
Synonyms end, bring to an end, terminate, put an end to, call a halt to, stop, cease, finish, dissolve; suspend, discontinue informal pull the plug on archaic sunder See parent entry: break |