From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgive somebody a breakgive somebody a breakspoken to stop being strict with someone so that a situation becomes easier for them Give the kid a break. It’s only his second day on the job. → break
Examples from the Corpus
give somebody a break• Give me a break, you guys! I can't get the money until Friday.• Instead of using your train time to read two more interoffice memos, give yourself a break and read something for fun.• If the assurances were not given or subsequently broken, the firm could be taken to court.• It hadn't been difficult for Bill to accede to his wife's nagging to give the girl a break.• That is, if anyone can be persuaded to give Mr Chekhov a break.• But the council refused to give them a break.• Expanded IRAs for this higher-income group will give costly tax breaks to people who are already saving for retirement. 