Macmillan Dictionary

Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

break into

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
phrasal verb [transitive]
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theybreak into
he/she/itbreaks into
present participlebreaking into
past tensebroke into
past participlebroken into
Other entries for this word

Related dictionary definitions

 
  1. 1
    break into something to enter a building by force, especially in order to steal things

    A house in our neighborhood was broken into last night.

  2. 2
    break into something to start doing something
    break into a run/trot/gallop etc.:

    The kids saw the beach and broke into a run.

    break into laughter/applause/song:

    I almost expected him to break into song.

    break into a sweat:

    My legs were shaking with exhaustion, but Phil hadn't even broken into a sweat.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of break into
  3. 3
    break into something to start to have success in your career or an area of activity

    It's always been his ambition to break into broadcasting.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of break into
  4. 4
    break into something to start to use an amount of money

    We had to break into our savings to pay the fine.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of break into
  5. 5
    break into something to interrupt someone when they are talking or thinking

    Christopher's voice broke into her thoughts.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of break into

This is the American English definition of break into. View British English definition of break into.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.

 
See also main entry: break

charticle

a news article that consists of a chart … and only has a small amount of text

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day

proton

the part of the nucleus of an atom that has a positive electrical charge

Open Dictionary

never event

an event that should never occur in a healthcare setting …

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog