breach
the act or a result of breaking; a break or rupture: Many districts were flooded by the river after a breach in an embankment upstream.
an infraction or violation, such as of a law, contract, trust, or promise: If there is a breach of the warranty, we are not liable for damage.
a gap made in a wall, fortification, line of soldiers, etc.; rift; fissure: A breach in the castle walls gave the enemy an entrance.
Digital Technology. the unauthorized acquisition, use, or disclosure of customers' or users' personal data: There's no indication of a data breach affecting credit card information.
a severance of friendly relations.
the leap of a whale above the surface of the water.
Archaic. the breaking of waves; the dashing of surf.
Obsolete. wound1.
to make a rupture or opening in: We need new ways to recover salmon without breaching the dams.
to break or act contrary to (a law, promise, etc.): The plaintiff alleges that the defendant has breached the terms of their license.
(of a whale) to leap partly or completely out of the water, head first, and land on the back or belly with a resounding splash.
Idioms about breach
more honored in the breach (than the observance),
(of a rule, law, custom, etc.) frequently ignored or rarely carried out: Courtly love was just an ideal, more honored in the breach than the observance.Even the best advice may be more honored in the breach.
(of a rule, law, custom, etc.) unjust or ignoble to the point of being better to ignore: They agreed that the promises made to their unfit leader would be more honored in the breach than the observance.
Origin of breach
1synonym study For breach
Other words for breach
Other words from breach
- breach·er, noun
- non·breach, noun
- non·breach·ing, adjective
- un·breached, adjective
Words that may be confused with breach
- breach , breech
Words Nearby breach
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use breach in a sentence
Yet if a developer offers people alternate payment options outside the App Store—or even points people to alternatives, however obliquely—they could find themselves in breach of Apple’s “terms of service.”
Why Apple let WordPress walk but continues to fight Fortnite’s Epic Games | rhhackettfortune | August 25, 2020 | FortuneEurope could fill the breach, but has its own squabbles, allowing China’s nakedly transactional diplomacy and Russia’s chaos-sowing what-aboutism to advance.
OpenAI’s striking lack of openness seems to us to be a serious breach of scientific ethics, and a distortion of the goals of the associated nonprofit.
GPT-3, Bloviator: OpenAI’s language generator has no idea what it’s talking about | Amy Nordrum | August 22, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewThe Cybersecurity Law had purposely left the regulation of personal data protection vague, but consumer data breaches and theft had reached unbearable levels.
Inside China’s unexpected quest to protect data privacy | Tate Ryan-Mosley | August 19, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewA similarly risky US advance purchase deal with Paris-based Sanofi—risky because no vaccine is guaranteed to work—created a diplomatic breach with France.
Every country wants a covid-19 vaccine. Who will get it first? | Katie McLean | August 13, 2020 | MIT Technology Review
This breach is an extraordinary emotional drag on the exhausted population.
In One Corner of Syria, Christmas Spirit Somehow Manages to Survive | Peter Schwartzstein | December 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe FBI and the President may claim that the Hermit Kingdom is to blame for the most high-profile network breach in forever.
Good old Sir Bob Geldof stepping into the breach again to raise money for crisis-hit Africa?
As mentioned, Yahoo has a black stain on its collaboration and severe breach of privacy.
But while progressive attempts to address the class divide have been less than successful, can the Republicans fill the breach?
Class Issues, Not Race, Will Likely Seal the Next Election | Joel Kotkin | September 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter an eight weeks' siege, a breach having been made, the city surrendered, and a month later the fort followed the example.
While secretly countenancing every attack on the Marshal, the Emperor, for family reasons, was loth to come to an open breach.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonThis decision meant a complete reversal of Swedish foreign policy and a breach with France.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonThey had reached the foot of the breach, when the fire of the town suddenly ceased.
The place must be battered until a breach was made, and stormed à la Turque.
British Dictionary definitions for breach
/ (briːtʃ) /
a crack, break, or rupture
a breaking, infringement, or violation of a promise, obligation, etc
any severance or separation: there was a breach between the two factions of the party
a gap in an enemy's fortifications or line of defence created by bombardment or attack
the act of a whale in breaking clear of the water
the breaking of sea waves on a shore or rock
an obsolete word for wound 1
(tr) to break through or make an opening, hole, or incursion in
(tr) to break a promise, law, etc
(intr) (of a whale) to break clear of the water
Origin of breach
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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