break up

Verb

• laugh unrestrainedly

• separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts

• cause to separate
  • break up kidney stones
    
  • disperse particles
    

• break or cause to break into pieces
  • The plate fragmented
    

• come to an end
  • Their marriage dissolved
    
  • The tobacco monopoly broke up
    

• bring the association of to an end or cause to break up
  • The decree officially dissolved the marriage
    
  • the judge dissolved the tobacco company
    

• close at the end of a session
  • The court adjourned
    

• release ice
  • The icebergs and glaciers calve
    

• attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example
  • Pick open the ice
    

• set or keep apart
  • sever a relationship
    

• destroy the completeness of a set of related items
  • The book dealer would not break the set
    

• take apart into its constituent pieces

• suffer a nervous breakdown

• cause to go into a solution
  • The recipe says that we should dissolve a cup of sugar in two cups of water
    

• make a break in
  • We interrupt the program for the following messages
    

• break violently or noisily; smash;

• come apart
  • the group broke up
    

• discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
  • The business partners broke over a tax question
    
  • The couple separated after 25 years of marriage
    
  • My friend and I split up
    

• to cause to separate and go in different directions
  • She waved her hand and scattered the crowds
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  crack up , decompose , break down , disperse , scatter , fragment , fragmentize , fragmentise , dissolve , adjourn , recess , calve , pick , sever , break , disassemble , dismantle , take apart , break apart , crack , crock up , collapse , resolve , interrupt , disrupt , cut off , crash , separate , part , split
• Antonyms: 
  assemble , piece , put together , set up , tack , tack together