BREACH Definition & Meaning

View synonyms for

breach

[ breech ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the act or a result of breaking; a break or rupture:
Many districts were flooded by the river after a breach in an embankment upstream.
Synonyms:
an infraction or violation, such as of a law, contract, trust, or promise:
If there is a breach of the warranty, we are not liable for damage.
a gap made in a wall, fortification, line of soldiers, etc.; rift; fissure:
A breach in the castle walls gave the enemy an entrance.
Synonyms: , ,
Digital Technology. the unauthorized acquisition, use, or disclosure of customers' or users' personal data:
There's no indication of a data breach affecting credit card information.
a severance of friendly relations.
Synonyms: , , , , ,
the leap of a whale above the surface of the water.
Archaic. the breaking of waves; the dashing of surf.
Obsolete. wound ¹( def ).

verb (used with object)

to make a rupture or opening in:
We need new ways to recover salmon without breaching the dams.
to break or act contrary to (a law, promise, etc.):
The plaintiff alleges that the defendant has breached the terms of their license.

verb (used without object)

(of a whale) to leap partly or completely out of the water, head first, and land on the back or belly with a resounding splash.

breach

/ ��ː��ʃ /

noun

a crack, break, or rupture
a breaking, infringement, or violation of a promise, obligation, etc
any severance or separation
there was a breach between the two factions of the party
a gap in an enemy's fortifications or line of defence created by bombardment or attack
the act of a whale in breaking clear of the water
the breaking of sea waves on a shore or rock
an obsolete word for wound 1

verb

tr to break through or make an opening, hole, or incursion in
tr to break a promise, law, etc
intr (of a whale) to break clear of the water

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Other �y��vlog Forms

��𲹳��·�� noun
�Դǲ�·��𲹳�� noun
�Դǲ�·��𲹳��·ing adjective
�ܲ�·��𲹳�� adjective

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of breach¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English breche, Old English ��æ�� “b��𲹰쾱�Բ�”; break ( def )

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of breach¹

Old English ��æ�� ; influenced by Old French ��è�� , from Old High German brecha , from brechan to break

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Idioms and Phrases

more honored in the breach (than the observance),
1. (of a rule, law, custom, etc.) frequently ignored or rarely carried out:
  Courtly love was just an ideal, more honored in the breach than the observance.
  Even the best advice may be more honored in the breach.
2. (of a rule, law, custom, etc.) unjust or ignoble to the point of being better to ignore:
  They agreed that the promises made to their unfit leader would be more honored in the breach than the observance.

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Synonym Study

Breach, infraction, violation, transgression all denote in some way the breaking of a rule or law or the upsetting of a normal and desired state. Breach is used infrequently in reference to laws or rules, more often in connection with desirable conditions or states of affairs: a breach of the peace, of good manners, of courtesy. Infraction most often refers to clearly formulated rules or laws: an infraction of the criminal code, of university regulations, of a labor contract. Violation, a stronger term than either of the preceding two, often suggests intentional, even forceful or aggressive, refusal to obey the law or to respect the rights of others: repeated violations of parking regulations; a human rights violation. Transgression, with its root sense of “a stepping across (of a boundary of some sort),” applies to any behavior that exceeds the limits imposed by a law, especially a moral law, a commandment, or an order; it often implies sinful behavior: a serious transgression of social customs, of God's commandments.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Alex Mitchell provided the speed at the breakdown to manoeuvre the Clermont defence, while Smith's control and sleight of hand behind him enticed his outside runners to carry hard and breach the gain-line.

From

A woman at the centre of a free speech controversy involving the US government has been found guilty of breaching a "buffer zone" outside a Bournemouth abortion clinic.

From

Inspector general offices routinely conduct independent investigations and audits of federal agencies, and look into possible security breaches.

From

Its Supreme Court instructed Parliament that a prohibition on assisted dying breached the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

From

Further arbitration proceedings are to take place, perhaps to work out whether Wynn-Williams owes the company compensation for breaching the agreement.

From

Related �y��vlogs

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More About Breach

What does��breach mean?

A breach is a physical break or rupture, as in the hull of a ship. It also means a violation or infraction, as in a breach of trust. It can also be used as a verb referring to the action that leads to each of these things.

Breach is often used in phrases like security breach, data breach, breach of trust, breach of etiquette, and breach of contract.��

Example: We view these ethical violations as an unforgivable breach of the public trust, and we call on the senator to resign.

Where does��breach come from?

Breach has been in use since before 1000. It comes from the same roots as the word break, and all of its senses relate to breaking or breaking through something.

In a physical sense, to breach something is to break through it. This is often applied to things that aren’t supposed to break, such as the hull of a ship or a thick wall, as in They’ve breached the castle gate! The resulting hole is called a breach.

The figurative sense of breach follows the same pattern. To breach something in this way is to violate it. It’s often applied to abstract things, as in breach the peace. In its figurative sense, it’s perhaps more commonly used as a noun, as in phrases like breach of trust and breach of friendship (in which cases it often refers to a betrayal) and breach of etiquette (meaning a violation of proper behavior). In a legal sense, you can breach a contract by not following it (resulting in a breach of contract). When someone bypasses security, it’s called a security breach. When hackers steal information, it’s called a data breach.

A little more specifically, it’s called a breach when a whale breaches the surface of the water by thrusting itself up out of it.

Breach should not be confused with the homophone breech, which generally refers to the lower part of something.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to breach?

breacher (noun)
nonbreach (noun)
nonbreaching (adjective)
unbreached (adjective)

What are some synonyms for breach?

What are some words that share a root or word element with breach?��

break

What are some words that often get used in discussing breach?

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What are some words breach may be commonly confused with?

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breech

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How is��breach��used in real life?

Breach refers to things that have been broken or violated. The break can be physical, but breach more commonly refers to violations of abstract things.

How did the protomolecule instantaneously infiltrate the ship? Did it breach the hull like a missile?

— Iris Pangburn (@Calamitatis)

Salespeople who send meeting invites unsolicited… don’t. I’ll never work with you once you’ve committed this profound breach of etiquette.

— David Harold (@dcharold)

I have to tell you, if using your product or service requires me to sign up for a new account, I'm way less likely to use it than I would be with existing credentials (using Sign In with Apple, for example). Too many data breach examples for me to bother these days.

— Peter Cohen (@flargh)

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Try using��breach!

Which of the following words is a synonym for breach?

A. agreement
B. violation
C. reconciliation
D. broken

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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