breakaway
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A swing dance in which the leader occasionally swings the follower out into an open position.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
braykuhwaySay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɹeɪkəweɪ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of breaking away or withdrawing from
“There was a breakaway by the discontented members.”
A particular yo-yo trick http://yoyo.wikia.com/wiki/Breakaway.
A swing dance in which the leader occasionally swings the follower out into an open position.
Australia
An animal that breaks away from a herd.
Australia
A stampede of animals.
Australia
A channel of floodwater that has burst from its usual course; or the track or channel eroded by the water.
adjective
Capable of breaking off without damaging the larger structure.
Having broken away from a larger unit.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of breaking away or withdrawing from
Used this way, breakaway is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“There was a breakaway by the discontented members.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use breakaway
- “There was a breakaway by the discontented members.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.