From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbreak up phrasal verb1 BREAK INTO PIECESBREAKif something breaks up, or if you break it up, it breaks into a lot of small pieces It seems that the plane just broke up in the air.break something ↔ up Use a fork to break up the soil.2 SEPARATESEPARATE break something ↔ up to separate something into several smaller parts There are plans to break the company up into several smaller independent companies. You need a few trees and bushes to break up the lawn.3 FIGHTSTOP something THAT IS HAPPENING break something ↔ up to stop a fight Three policemen were needed to break up the fight.4 break something ↔ up to make people leave a place where they have been meeting or protesting Government soldiers broke up the demonstration. Police moved in to break up the meeting.5 MARRIAGE/ORGANIZATIONFINISH/COME TO AN ENDif a marriage, group of people, or relationship breaks up, the people in it separate and do not live or work together anymore He lost his job and his marriage broke up. The couple broke up last year. Many bands break up because of personality clashes between the musicians. with Has Sam really broken up with Lucy? → breakup6 CROWDCROWDif a meeting or party breaks up, people start to leave The party didn’t break up until after midnight. The meeting broke up without any agreement. 7 SCHOOL British EnglishFINISH/COME TO AN END when a school breaks up, it closes for a holiday School breaks up next week. for When do you break up for Easter?8 MAKE somebody LAUGH break somebody up American English informalFUNNY to make someone laugh by saying or doing something funny He breaks me up! → break→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
break up• The protest continued peacefully until government troops moved in to break it up.• When does your school break up?• If you have to give a long explanation, try to break it up.• In spring the icebergs begin to break up.• Newspaper stories often have a lot to do with showbusiness marriages breaking up.• Breaking meetings up and harassing party members are just some of the tactics our opponents have used.• The comet was formed when a planet broke up at some time in the distant past.• The conference was broken up by animal rights campaigners.• Two of the missiles apparently broke up in flight.• Eventually, the old ruling group broke up into a number of political parties.• Tom and I broke up last year.• What finally caused the break-up of your marriage?• The kids break up on Wednesday.• The ice breaks up quicker near the shore.• The crowd broke up slowly.• The police were attacked as they tried to break up the crowd.• The police were instructed to break up the demonstration and arrest the ringleaders.• Police broke up the demonstration with tear gas.• The police had to use tear gas to break up the protest.• I can't imagine ever breaking up with my wife.break with• I never said a word about my decision to break up with her.• When his girlfriend returns, he breaks up with her.• The meeting broke up with mixed feelings, but after a few days it became clear that we were in business.• A further conference at La Ferté-Bernard in July 1168 met in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and broke up with nothing achieved.• He'd broken up with Pat but ... he was always talking about her.• The fights in Seattle were broken up with pepper spray when as many as 4,000 people crowded into the streets.• I'd just broken up with some one else.break for• The wheel was never repaired and was eventually broken up for scrap.• They must never be broken up for short-term gain. 3.• Overhead the clouds had been breaking up for some time.From Longman Business Dictionarybreak something → up phrasal verb [intransitive, transitive]1if a company or group breaks up or is broken up, it is divided into smaller companiesThe new chairman plans to break up the group into more autonomous subsidiaries.2if someone breaks up an arrangement or agreement, or if it is broken up, it endsJapan’s Fair Trade Commission ordered 13 ink makers to break up a price-fixing cartel. → break→ See Verb tablebreak-upˈbreak-up noun [countable]COMMERCE an occasion when a company or group is broken up into smaller unitsBreak-ups create added tax, interest and management costs. 