From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbreak the silencebreak the silenceTALK TO somebodyLOUD/NOISYto end a period of silence by talking or making a noise The silence was broken by a loud scream. → break
Examples from the Corpus
break the silence• Finally Shelley felt she had to break the silence.• Only the eerie tinkle of leg irons and shouted commands break the silence.• Protestant voices now and then broke the silence.• She would have to think of something to say in a minute to break the silence.• The roar of a furnace engine broke the silence.• The sound of stockinged legs moving across the room finally broke the silence.• A footstep broke the silence and approached to within ten paces of Blackburn and waited.• The only sound to break the silence of the night was the soft mutter of my engine. 