break away (from sb/sth)
1) 脱离（政党、国家等，尤指再组建新的）：Two states broke away from the federation. 两个州脱离了联邦。
2) 挣脱；逃脱：She broke away from him and ran to the door. 她甩开他，跑到门口。
break down
1)（机器或车辆）出故障，坏掉：The washing machine has broken down again. 洗衣机又坏了。 ◇ We (= the car) broke down on the freeway. 我们的车在高速公路上抛锚了。
2)（谈判等）失败，破裂：Negotiations between the two sides have broken down. 双方的谈判破裂了。
3) to become very bad 被搞垮；垮掉：Her health broke down under the pressure of work. 她因工作压力身体垮掉了。
4) 情不自禁地哭起来：When we gave her the bad news, she broke down and cried. 当我们告诉她这个坏消息时，她忍不住哭了起来。 ◇ She broke down in tears when she heard the news. 听到这个消息，他不禁失声痛哭。
5) to divide into parts to be analysed 划成部分（以便分析）：The job breaks down into seven parts. 这项工作分为七部分。 ◇ My weekly budget breaks down as follows: 50% for rent, 20% for food, 10% for travel, and 20% for everything else. 我每周的预算分别列明如下：租金50%，食品20%，交通10%，其他20%。
break sth ↔ down
1) 打倒，砸破（某物）：They had to get the police to break the door down. 他们不得不请警察来撞开门。
2) 消除，破除（障碍或偏见）：to break down one’s shyness 驱除某人的胆怯 ◇ Our aim is to break down barriers that exist between teachers and parents. 我们的目标是消除教师和家长之间的隔阂。
3) to divide sth into parts in order to analyse it or make it easier to do 把…分成若干部分（以方便分析或做）：Each lesson is broken down into several units. 每一课都分成几部分。 ◇ He showed us the whole dance, then broke it down so that we could learn it more easily. 他给我们演示了整段舞蹈，然后拆分开来方便我们学习。
4) 使分解：Food is broken down in the stomach. 食物在胃里分解。
break in
强行进入；破门而入：The firefighters had to break in to rescue them. 消防队员不得不破门而入营救他们。
break in (on sth)
to interrupt sb when they are speaking or doing sth 打断；打搅：Please don’t break in on our conversation. 请别打断我们的谈话。 ◇ “I didn’t do it!” she broke in. “不是我干的！”她插嘴说。
break into sth
1) 强行闯入；撬开（汽车等）：A thief can break into a car in under ten seconds. 窃贼十秒钟之内就能把车撬开。 ◇ Three houses in our street have been broken into this week. 我们这条街本周有三户人家被盗。
2) 突然开始（笑、唱等）：The audience broke into loud applause. 观众中爆发出热烈的掌声。 ◇ Her face broke into a smile. 她脸上突然绽放出笑容。
3) to become involved in a new job or business activity 打入，进入，参与（新的工作或行业）：She made an attempt to break into journalism. 她试图进入新闻界。 ◇ The company is having difficulty breaking into new markets. 公司在打入新市场时遇到了困难。
break out
（战争、打斗等不愉快事件）突然发生，爆发：Fire broke out during the night. 夜间突然发生了火灾。 ◇ I was still living in London when the war broke out. 战争发生的时候，我还住在伦敦。
break through
作出新的重大发现；取得突破：Scientists think they are beginning to break through in the fight against cancer. 科学家认为他们在对抗癌症的研究中开始有所突破。
break up
1) to separate into smaller pieces 粉碎；破碎：It seems that the plane just broke up in the air. 似乎飞机在空中就解体碎裂了。
2)（婚姻、关系）破裂：He lost his job and his marriage broke up. 他丢了工作，婚姻也破裂了。 ◇ She’s just broken up with her boyfriend. 她刚和男朋友分手。
3)（会议或聚会）解散，散会，结束：The meeting broke up at eleven o’clock. 会议在十一点散会。