Break and Run up

Break

Break verb - To cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly.

Run up is an antonym for break.

Run up

Run up verb - Pile up (debts or scores).

Break is an antonym for run up in topics: erect, build.

Both terms in one sentence

  • She then actually proceeds to run up to the Emperor's palanquin, yelling for the Emperor to give her a jewel from his hat, and proceeds to grab at the palanquin and break part of it.
    Source: Culture Blind
  • Good Hair, Evil Hair Harold: (to a Viking, believing him to be Billy misbehaving) Young man, you can be rude, break furniture, run up phone bills, shave the cat, and even harass your mother!
  • Bad Humor Truck Some little girls run up asking for ice cream, only to be confronted by Gene Hunt scoffing down a cone and Flipping the Bird, causing the girls to break down in tears.
Cite this Source
Run up and Break. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/run_up
Break & Run up. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/run_up>.
Run up or Break. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/run_up.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "break" and "run up" have occurred on timeline