to break in upon

Break \Break\ (br[=a]k), v. i.
   1. To come apart or divide into two or more pieces, usually
      with suddenness and violence; to part; to burst asunder.
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   2. To open spontaneously, or by pressure from within, as a
      bubble, a tumor, a seed vessel, a bag.
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            Else the bottle break, and the wine runneth out.
                                                  --Math. ix.
                                                  17.
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   3. To burst forth; to make its way; to come to view; to
      appear; to dawn.
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            The day begins to break, and night is fled. --Shak.
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            And from the turf a fountain broke,
            and gurgled at our feet.              --Wordsworth.
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   4. To burst forth violently, as a storm.
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            The clouds are still above; and, while I speak,
            A second deluge o'er our head may break. --Dryden.
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   5. To open up; to be scattered; to be dissipated; as, the
      clouds are breaking.
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            At length the darkness begins to break. --Macaulay.
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   6. To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose
      health or strength.
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            See how the dean begins to break;
            Poor gentleman! he droops apace.      --Swift.
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   7. To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief; as, my
      heart is breaking.
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   8. To fall in business; to become bankrupt.
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            He that puts all upon adventures doth oftentimes
            break, and come to poverty.           --Bacn.
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   9. To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait;
      as, to break into a run or gallop.
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   10. To fail in musical quality; as, a singer's voice breaks
       when it is strained beyond its compass and a tone or note
       is not completed, but degenerates into an unmusical sound
       instead. Also, to change in tone, as a boy's voice at
       puberty.
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   11. To fall out; to terminate friendship.
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             To break upon the score of danger or expense is to
             be mean and narrow-spirited.         --Collier.
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   Note: With prepositions or adverbs: 
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   {To break away}, to disengage one's self abruptly; to come or
      go away against resistance.
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            Fear me not, man; I will not break away. --Shak.
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   {To break down}.
       (a) To come down by breaking; as, the coach broke down.
       (b) To fail in any undertaking; to halt before successful
           completion; as, the negotiations broke down due to
           irreconcilable demands.
       (c) To cease functioning or to malfunction; as, the car
           broke down in the middle of the highway.
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                 He had broken down almost at the outset.
                                                  --Thackeray.
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   {To break forth}, to issue; to come out suddenly, as sound,
      light, etc. "Then shall thy light break forth as the
      morning." --Isa. lviii. 8;
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   Note: often with into in expressing or giving vent to one's
         feelings. "Break forth into singing, ye mountains."
         --Isa. xliv. 23.
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   {To break from}, to go away from abruptly.
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            This radiant from the circling crowd he broke.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   {To break into}, to enter by breaking; as, to break into a
      house.

   {To break in upon}, to enter or approach violently or
      unexpectedly. "This, this is he; softly awhile; let us not
      break in upon him." --Milton.

   {To break loose}.
       (a) To extricate one's self forcibly. "Who would not,
           finding way, break loose from hell?" --Milton.
       (b) To cast off restraint, as of morals or propriety.

   {To break off}.
       (a) To become separated by rupture, or with suddenness
           and violence.
       (b) To desist or cease suddenly. "Nay, forward, old man;
           do not break off so." --Shak.

   {To break off from}, to desist from; to abandon, as a habit.
      

   {To break out}.
       (a) To burst forth; to escape from restraint; to appear
           suddenly, as a fire or an epidemic. "For in the
           wilderness shall waters break out, and stream in the
           desert." --Isa. xxxv. 6
       (b) To show itself in cutaneous eruptions; -- said of a
           disease.
       (c) To have a rash or eruption on the akin; -- said of a
           patient.

   {To break over}, to overflow; to go beyond limits.

   {To break up}.
       (a) To become separated into parts or fragments; as, the
           ice break up in the rivers; the wreck will break up
           in the next storm.
       (b) To disperse. "The company breaks up." --I. Watts.

   {To break upon}, to discover itself suddenly to; to dawn
      upon.

   {To break with}.
       (a) To fall out; to sever one's relations with; to part
           friendship. "It can not be the Volsces dare break
           with us." --Shak. "If she did not intend to marry
           Clive, she should have broken with him altogether."
           --Thackeray.
       (b) To come to an explanation; to enter into conference;
           to speak. [Obs.] "I will break with her and with her
           father." --Shak.
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