English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English tobreken (to break apart, break in pieces, shatter), from Old English tōbrecan, tebrecan (to break in pieces, break apart), from Proto-West Germanic *tebrekan, from Proto-Germanic *tebrekaną (to break apart), equivalent to to- (apart, in pieces) +‎ break. Cognate with Old Saxon tebrekan (to break apart), Middle Dutch tebreken (to break apart, shatter), German zerbrechen (to break apart, shatter, smash).

Verb

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tobreak (third-person singular simple present tobreaks, present participle tobreaking, simple past tobroke, past participle tobroken)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To break completely; crush.
  2. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To break apart; break in pieces.

See also

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