# breakup

Pronunciation: US say "BRAYK-up" /ˈbɹeɪk.ʌp/; UK

## Noun

1. The point at which a romantic relationship or friendship comes to an end, or the act of ending it.
   - Simple: The end of a friendship or a love relationship.
   - _She took the breakup hard and spent weeks avoiding the places they used to go together._
   - _Their friendship survived college, but a fight over money led to a bitter breakup._
2. The breaking apart of something, either by falling to pieces or by being divided into separate parts.
   - Simple: When something falls to pieces or is split into separate parts.
   - _Investigators mapped the wreckage to work out the sequence of the aircraft's breakup in midair._
   - _The breakup of the conglomerate into four independent companies took nearly two years._
3. The time of year when the winter ice covering rivers, lakes and other bodies of water breaks apart; more generally, the spring season.
   - Simple: The time in spring when the ice on rivers and lakes breaks apart, or spring in general.
   - _Breakup came late this year, and the river ice didn't go out until the middle of May._
   - _We fly the fuel in before breakup, while the ice road to the mine is still solid._

## Origin

Formed from the verb break up.

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