| E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. |
| | | Break (To). | | |
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To become a bankrupt. (See BANKRUPT.) | 1 |
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To break a bond. To dishonour it. | 2 |
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To break a journey. To stop before the journey is accomplished. | 3 |
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To break a matter to a person. To be the first to impart it, and to do so cautiously and by piecemeal. | 4 |
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To break bread. To partake of the Lord’s Supper. | 5 |
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“Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them.”—Acts xx. 7. |
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To break one’s fast. To take food after long abstinence; to eat one’s breakfast after the night’s fast. | 6 |
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To break one’s neck. To dislocate the bones of one’s neck. | 7 |
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To break on the wheel. To torture one on a “wheel” by breaking the long bones with an iron bar. (Cf. COUP DE GRÂCE.) | 8 |
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To break a butterfly on a wheel. To employ superabundant effort in the accomplishment of a small matter. | 9 |
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| “Satire or sense, alas! can Sporus feel, |
| Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel.” | |
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Pope: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, 307–8. |
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To break out of bounds. To go beyond the prescribed limits. | 10 |
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