English

Noun

breaktime ‎(plural breaktimes)

1. (US) A break for a worker or workers that splits a period of work.
   • 2007, National Labor Relations Board (U.S.) (editor), Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board, Volume 346: November 28, 2005—May 8, 2006, page 39,

     Supervisor Laws asserts that when the incident occurred it was not the breaktime of either Tingler or Parnell. (4:760,789.)

2. (Britain) A break for schoolchildren between lessons.
   • 1992, David Freer, Towards Open Schools: Possibilities and Realities for Non-Racial Education in South Africa, page 130,

     It tends to evaluate the liking for, and the acceptance of, the pupils in their class as peers, rather than asking children to specifically select their friends, breaktime and home companions.

   • 2006, Brigette Bishop, Promoting Friendships in the Playground: A Peer Befriending Programme for Primary Schools, page 4,

     The significance of breaktimes as a mechanism for children to develop social competence is highlighted in much of Peter Blatchford's work.

   • 2010, Karen Littleton, Clare Wood, Judith Kleine Staarman, International Handbook of Psychology in Education, page 231,

     Designed by architects working for Norman Foster, it had no playground and no morning breaktime.

Synonyms

• (break during school): lunchtime (hyponym), playtime, recess

Translations