Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Breach

Breach

(brēch)
,
Noun.
[OE.
breke
,
breche
, AS.
brice
,
gebrice
,
gebrece
(in comp.), fr.
brecan
to break; akin to Dan.
bræk
, MHG.
breche
, gap, breach. See
Break
, and cf.
Brake
(the instrument),
Brack
a break]
.
1.
The act of breaking, in a figurative sense.
2.
Specifically: A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment;
as, a
breach
of contract; a
breach
of promise
.
3.
A gap or opening made made by breaking or battering, as in a wall or fortification; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence; a break; a rupture.
Once more unto the
breach
, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
Shakespeare
4.
A breaking of waters, as over a vessel; the waters themselves; surge; surf.
The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the
breach
of waters.
2 Sam. v. 20.
A clear breach
implies that the waves roll over the vessel without breaking.
A clean breach
implies that everything on deck is swept away.
Ham. Nav. Encyc.
5.
A breaking up of amicable relations; rupture.
There’s fallen between him and my lord
An unkind
breach
.
Shakespeare
6.
A bruise; a wound.
Breach
for
breach
, eye for eye.
Lev. xxiv. 20.
7.
(Med.)
A hernia; a rupture.
8.
A breaking out upon; an assault.
The Lord had made a
breach
upon Uzza.
1. Chron. xiii. 11.
Breach of falth
,
a breaking, or a failure to keep, an expressed or implied promise; a betrayal of confidence or trust.
Breach of peace
,
disorderly conduct, disturbing the public peace.
Breach of privilege
,
an act or default in violation of the privilege or either house of Parliament, of Congress, or of a State legislature, as, for instance, by false swearing before a committee.
Mozley. Abbott.
-
Breach of promise
,
violation of one's plighted word, esp. of a promise to marry.
Breach of trust
,
violation of one's duty or faith in a matter entrusted to one.
Syn. – Rent; cleft; chasm; rift; aperture; gap; break; disruption; fracture; rupture; infraction; infringement; violation; quarrel; dispute; contention; difference; misunderstanding.

Breach

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Breached
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Breaching
.]
To make a breach or opening in;
as, to
breach
the walls of a city
.

Breach

,
Verb.
I.
To break the water, as by leaping out; – said of a whale.

Webster 1828 Edition


Breach

BREACH

, n.
1.
The act of breaking; or state of being broken; a rupture; a break; a gap; the space between the severed parts of a solid body parted by violence; as a breach in a garment, or in a wall.
2.
The violation of a law; the violation or non-fulfillment of a contract; the non-performance of a moral duty; non-performance of duty being a breach of obligation, as well as a positive transgression or violation.
Every breach of the public engagements is hurtful to public credit.
3.
An opening in a coast. [Not usual.]
4.
Separation between friends by means of enmity; difference; quarrel.
5.
Infraction; injury; invasion; as a breach upon kingly power.
6.
Bereavement; loss of a friend and its consequent affliction.
7.
A violation of the public peace, as by a riot, affray, or any tumult which is contrary to law, and destructive to the public tranquillity, is called a breach of the peace.

BREACH

,
Verb.
T.
To make a breach, or opening.

Definition 2024


breach

breach

See also: breech

English

Noun

breach (plural breaches)

  1. A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence; a break; a rupture; a fissure.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, act 3, scene 1:
      "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead."
  2. A breaking up of amicable relations, a falling-out.
    • Shakespeare
      There's fallen between him and my lord / An unkind breach.
  3. A breaking of waters, as over a vessel or a coastal defence; the waters themselves; surge; surf.
    A clear breach is when the waves roll over the vessel without breaking. A clean breach is when everything on deck is swept away.
    • Bible, 2 Sam. v. 20
      The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me
    the breach of waters
    • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:
      I cast my eye to the stranded vessel, when, the breach and froth of the sea being so big, I could hardly see it, it lay so far of; and considered, Lord! how was it possible I could get on shore.
  4. A breaking out upon; an assault.
    • Bible, 1 Chron. xiii. 11
      The Lord had made a breach upon Uzza.
  5. (archaic) A bruise; a wound.
    • Bible, Leviticus xxiv. 20
      breach for breach, eye for eye
  6. (archaic) A hernia; a rupture.
  7. (law) A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment
    breach of promise
  8. (figuratively) A difference in opinions, social class etc.
    • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, "London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
      For London to have its own exclusive immigration policy would exacerbate the sense that immigration benefits only certain groups and disadvantages the rest. It would entrench the gap between London and the rest of the nation. And it would widen the breach between the public and the elite that has helped fuel anti-immigrant hostility.
  9. The act of breaking, in a figurative sense.
    • 1748, David Hume, Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, Section 3, § 12:
      But were the poet to make a total difression from his subject, and introduce a new actor, nowise connected with the personages, the imagination, feeling a breach in transition, would enter coldly into the new scene;

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

breach (third-person singular simple present breaches, present participle breaching, simple past and past participle breached)

  1. (transitive) To make a breach in.
    They breached the outer wall, but not the main one.
  2. (transitive) To violate or break.
    • 2000, Mobile Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast, Inc. v. United States, Justice Stevens.
      "I therefore agree with the Court that the Government did breach its contract with petitioners in failing to approve, within 30 days of its receipt, the plan of exploration petitioners submitted."
  3. (transitive, nautical, of the sea) To break into a ship or into a coastal defence.
  4. (intransitive, of a whale) To leap clear out of the water.

Translations