Break

Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to:

Time off from duties

 * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties
 * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess
 * Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest period in business
 * Annual leave (holiday/vacation), paid time off work

Time off from school

 * Holiday break, a U.S. term for various school holidays
 * Christmas break or Winter break, a break in the winter, typically around Christmas and New Years
 * Spring break, a recess in early spring at universities and schools in various countries in the northern hemisphere
 * Summer break, a typical long break in the summertime

People

 * Ted Breaks (1919–2000), English professional footballer
 * Danny Breaks (active 1990s–), British drum and bass DJ, record producer and record label owner
 * Jim Breaks (1940–2023), English professional wrestler

Sport

 * , the first shot meant to break the balls in cue sports, also a series of shots in snooker
 * Breaking ball, a pitch that does not travel straight like a fastball as it approaches the batter
 * Surf break, place where a wave collapses into surf
 * Horse breaking, the process of training a horse to be ridden
 * Break (tennis), to win a tennis game as the receiving player or team, thereby breaking serve

Computing

 * Break condition, in asynchronous serial communication
 * Break key, a special key on computer keyboards
 * break statement, a keyword in computer programming used for flow control
 * Line break (computing), a special character signifying the end of a line of text
 * To break (or "crack") an encryption cipher, in cryptanalysis

Other technologies

 * Brake (carriage), a type of horse-drawn carriage used in the 19th and early 20th centuries
 * Break (locksmithing), a separation between pins of a lock
 * Breakover angle, a maximum possible supplementary angle of terrain
 * Paradelta Break, an Italian paraglider design

Books

 * The Break (Giovanni novel), 1957, by José Giovanni
 * The Break (Vermette novel), 2016, by Katherena Vermette
 * The Breaks (novel), 1983, by Richard Price

Film, television and theatre
To break character (or "corpse"), to lose composure during comedic scenes


 * Break (2008 film), an American action film
 * Break (2014 film), also known as Nature Law
 * Break (2020 film), a British independent film
 * The Break (1995 film), an American tennis film
 * The Break (1963 film), a drama starring Tony Britton
 * The Break (2003 film), a TV film featuring Kris Kristofferson
 * The Break, alternative name for A Further Gesture, a 1997 film
 * The Break (TV series), a 2016 Belgian crime drama, also known as La Trêve
 * The Break with Michelle Wolf, a 2018 Netflix series
 * The Breaks (1999 film), an American comedy
 * The Breaks (2016 film), an American television hip-hop drama
 * The Breaks (TV series), a 2017 American drama and a continuation of the 2016 film
 * "Break" (Bottom), a British television episode
 * Break (Transformers), a fictional character
 * The Break, a short film shown at the 2016 Dublin International Film Festival
 * The Break (play), a 1962 play by Philip Albright

Music

 * Break (music), a percussion interlude or instrumental solo within a longer work of music
 * Breakbeat, a broad style of electronic or dance-oriented music

Albums

 * Break (Enchant album), 1998
 * Break (Mamoru Miyano album), 2009
 * Break (One-Eyed Doll album), 2010
 * Break (EP), 2006, by The Cinematics

Songs

 * "Break", 1972, by Aphrodite's Child
 * "The Breaks" (song), 1980, by Kurtis Blow
 * "Break" (1984), by Play Dead
 * "Break" (1996), by Staind from the album Tormented
 * "Break" (1998), by Fugazi from the album End Hits
 * "Break" (2002), by Jurassic 5 from the album Power in Numbers
 * "Break" (2006), by Republic of Loose from the album Aaagh!
 * "Break" (2006), by The Cinematics
 * "Break" (2008), by Alanis Morissette from the album Flavors of Entanglement
 * "Break" (Three Days Grace song) (2009)
 * "Break" (2013), by Hostyle Gospel from the album Desperation
 * "Break" (2015), by Katherine McPhee from the album Hysteria
 * "Break" (2015), by No Devotion from the album Permanence
 * "Break" (Kero Kero Bonito song), 2016

Other media

 * Break.com, a humor website

Other uses

 * Big break (jargon), a circumstance which allows an actor or musician to "break into" the industry and achieve fame
 * Bone fracture, a medical condition in which there is a break in the continuity of the bone
 * Commercial break, in television and radio
 * Prison escape, the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways
 * Section break, in type setting
 * Break, an air combat maneuver; see Basic fighter maneuvers
 * Breaks, Virginia
 * Psychotic break