# breach

Pronunciation: say "BREECH" /bɹiːtʃ/

## Noun

1. A failure to obey a law or to carry out an obligation, promise, or binding tie; a violation.
   - Simple: The breaking of a law, a promise, or a duty you agreed to keep.
   - _The regulator found the bank guilty of a breach of financial law._
   - _Missing the deadline counted as a breach of their agreement._
2. A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, such as in a wall, fortification, or levee; the space torn open in a solid body.
   - Simple: A gap or hole made in a wall or barrier by breaking or smashing it.
   - _The attackers stormed the fortress through a breach in its outer wall._
   - _Engineers worked through the night to close the breach in the dam._
6. A breaking up of friendly relations between people; a falling out.
   - Simple: The end of a friendship or good relationship after a serious argument.
   - _The disagreement led to a permanent breach within the family._
   - _Years of rivalry finally opened a breach between the partners._
7. A breaking out against someone or something; an assault.
   - Simple: An attack that breaks out suddenly against someone.
8. A gap or division between people arising from differences in opinion, social class, or the like.
   - Simple: A gap between people caused by different opinions or backgrounds.
   - _Education helped narrow the breach between the two communities._
   - _A deep breach in values split the older and younger members._
9. The act of breaking, understood in a figurative rather than physical sense.
   - Simple: The act of breaking something that is not a physical object, like trust.
   - _Critics described the move as a breach of long-held tradition._
   - _The vote represented a breach with decades of party policy._
10. A breaking of waves over a vessel or coastal defense; the surging water that breaks through.
   - Simple: Water that breaks over a ship or sea wall, or the rushing water that pours over it.
   - _The sailors clung on as a violent breach poured over the bow._
   - _Each breach of the sea over the embankment carried away more sand._

## Verb

3. To violate or break a law, agreement, or obligation.
   - Simple: To break a law, rule, or promise that you are supposed to follow.
   - _Companies that breach environmental laws face heavy penalties._
   - _He breached the confidentiality agreement by leaking the documents._
4. To make a gap or opening in a wall, barrier, or defensive structure.
   - Simple: To break a hole through a wall or barrier.
   - _Storm surges can breach coastal defenses within minutes._
   - _The troops finally breached the enemy's fortifications._
5. Of a whale or other large sea animal, to leap clear of the water's surface.
   - Simple: To jump up out of the water, as a whale does.
   - _Humpback whales breach repeatedly during the migration season._
   - _The orca breached just yards from the kayakers._
11. To give way or be broken open, as a wall or defense under strain.
   - Simple: To break open or give way under pressure.
   - _The levee breached during the worst of the flooding._
   - _Engineers warned that the barriers could breach without urgent repairs._
12. To break through the hull of a ship or a coastal defense.
   - Simple: To break a hole into a ship or sea wall.
   - _A reef can breach a hull and let the sea pour in._
   - _Storm waves breached the harbor defenses and flooded the town._
13. To charge, convict, or take legal action against someone for failing to meet a legal obligation. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To take someone to court for not following a legal duty.
   - _The probation service breached him after he missed three appointments._
   - _Authorities may breach an offender who violates the terms of release._

## Noun

14. A bruise or wound on the body. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A wound or bruise on the body.
   - _The old soldier bore many a breach from his years of fighting._
   - _A festering breach on his leg kept him bedridden for weeks._
15. A hernia; a rupture in the body's inner wall. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A rupture in the body, such as a hernia.
   - _Years of heavy labor left the old man with a painful breach._
   - _The doctor fitted a support to hold the breach in place._

## Origin

This comes from Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe ("fracture, breach") and brǣċ ("breach, breaking, destruction"), which trace back through Proto-West Germanic *bruki to Proto-Germanic *brukiz ("breach, fissure") and *brēkō ("breaking").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/breach (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).