Break
Break verb - Break down, literally or metaphorically.
Usage example: The dam broke
Give
Give verb - To fall down or in as a result of physical pressure.
Usage example: they loaded the shopping cart with so much food it gave under all the weight
Break is a synonym for give in yield topic. Sometimes you can use "Break" instead a verb "Give", if it concerns topics such as give way, collapse.
How words are described
| good | good break | good give |
| nice | nice break | nice give |
| long | long break | long give |
| short | short break | short give |
| Other adjectives: total, initial, true, big, huge, little, main, famous, major, minor, magical. | ||
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
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This often leads to cycles where one trumps the other, only to break and give way to the other.
Source: Magic Versus Science - He's employed in a nondescript but ominous office where his only duty is to occasionally stare at disloyal employees until they eventually break and give up their secrets.
- According to them, "the emo guys break up with their girlfriends and get sad, while we break up and we don't give a damn, because life goes on".
Source: Music / Restart
Cite this Source
Give and Break. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 16, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/give
Break & Give. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/give>.
Give or Break. 2016. Accessed August 16, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/give.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "break" and "give" have occurred on timeline