Break
Break noun - A momentary halt in an activity.
Pow
Pow noun - A person who surrenders to (or is taken by) the enemy in time of war.
Both words in one sentence
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It's most noticeable in Captain America: The First Avenger, which features him dealing with the discovery that his best friend is a POW by invading Austria during a break in his USO show.
Source: Leeroy Jenkins -
There's also an earlier mission where a truck carrying a POW and followed by half-a-dozen EDF gunships gets perilously close to the base before being ordered to break away.
Source: Video Game / Red Faction -
In the Samurai Shodown games, the player has the ability to break their POW gauge in order to allow an Issen attack, which effectively describes this trope, but it's generally seen as a cheap attack.
Source: Single-Stroke Battle
Cite this Source
Pow and Break. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 16, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/pow
Break & Pow. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/pow>.
Pow or Break. 2016. Accessed August 16, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/pow.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "break" and "pow" have occurred on timeline