break·away
ˈbrā-kə-ˌwā 
1
a
: one that breaks away
b
: a departure from or rejection of something (such as a group or tradition)
2
a
: a play (as in hockey) in which an offensive player breaks free of the defenders and rushes toward the goal
b
: a sudden acceleration by one or more bicyclists pulling away from the pack in a race
3
: an object made to shatter or collapse under pressure or impact
1
: favoring independence from an affiliation : seceding
a breakaway faction formed a new party
2
: made to break, shatter, or bend easily
breakaway road signs for highway safety
3
a
: of, relating to, or resulting from a breakaway
a breakaway goal
b
: allowing or having an ability to execute a breakaway
breakaway speed
broke away; broken away; breaking away; breaks away
1
: to detach oneself especially from a group : get away
2
: to depart from former or accustomed ways
3
: to pull away with a burst of speed
Examples of breakaway in a Sentence
Adjective
A breakaway faction formed a new party.
Recent Examples on the Web
Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2025
President-elect Donald J. Trump has been a vocal advocate of the breakaway LIV Golf, which was started by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2021 and emerged as a major challenger to the PGA Tour before the two sides struck a preliminary partnership deal in 2023.
—Eric Lipton, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Alexander Gabuev, Foreign Affairs, 13 Mar. 2023
In 2008, Russia and Georgia went to war over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia.
—Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2024
CBS News, 5 Jan. 2025
The aircraft’s front section was consumed by fire, but the aft section broke away.
—Marisa Garcia, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for breakaway 
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Noun
Gabbard is a former progressive Democrat with lifelong ties to the Science of Identity Foundation, a Hare Krishna breakaway sect.
—Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2025
President-elect Donald J. Trump has been a vocal advocate of the breakaway LIV Golf, which was started by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2021 and emerged as a major challenger to the PGA Tour before the two sides struck a preliminary partnership deal in 2023.
—Eric Lipton, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Adjective
Furthermore, Moscow’s various calls for respect of the UN Charter would have been taken more seriously had Russia itself not unilaterally recognized the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008, or annexed Crimea and instigated a war in Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014.
—Alexander Gabuev, Foreign Affairs, 13 Mar. 2023
In 2008, Russia and Georgia went to war over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia.
—Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2024
Verb
As the group of four people, according to authorities, went up a steep slope at an elevation of 10,400 feet, a large slab of snow about 5 feet thick broke away and slid, fully burying the victim.
—CBS News, 5 Jan. 2025
The aircraft’s front section was consumed by fire, but the aft section broke away.
—Marisa Garcia, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for breakaway
Dictionary Entries Near breakaway
Cite this Entry
“Breakaway.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breakaway. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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