Meaning & use
breach
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
An act of breaking a law, promise, agreement or rule of behavior.
Grammar: Usually followed by of: a breach of contract.
Patterns
- a breach of something
- in breach of something
The company was sued for breach of contract.
Leaking the memo was a serious breach of trust.
The club is in breach of safety rules.
nouncountable
A gap or opening made in a wall, barrier or defense.
Grammar: Countable: a breach in the wall.
Patterns
- a breach in something
Soldiers poured through the breach in the castle wall.
Workers repaired the breach in the dam.
A breach in the fence let the sheep escape.
nounsingularformal
A serious break in a relationship between people or groups.
Grammar: Usually a breach between two sides.
Patterns
- a breach between someone and someone
The argument caused a breach between the two families.
Years passed before the breach was healed.
verbtransitive
To break a rule, promise or law, or to make a hole through a barrier.
Grammar: Takes an object: breach the agreement, breach the wall.
Patterns
- breach something
The firm breached its contract by delivering late.
Floodwater breached the levee overnight.
Hackers breached the company's network.
Word forms
| plural | breaches |
|---|---|
| third person singular | breaches |
| past tense | breached |
| -ing form | breaching |
Common combinations
- breach of contract
- He sued for breach of contract.
- breach of security
- A breach of security forced the airport to close a gate.
- data breach
- The shop reported a data breach last week.
- breach the peace
- The protesters were accused of breaching the peace.
- in breach of
- The factory is in breach of environmental law.
Synonyms and how they differ
- violation
- Violation is nearly the same for rules and laws but carries more moral weight and rarely describes a physical gap.
- infringement
- Infringement is formal and mostly used for rights, copyright or patents.
- gap
- Gap is plain and neutral, whereas a breach in a wall suggests damage or force.
- rift
- Rift is closer to the third sense and stresses a split between people.
Opposites
Commonly confused: breach or breech? breach or breed?
breach vs breech
Breech is the back part of a gun or a birth with the feet first; breach is a break or gap.
breach vs breed
Breed means to produce young, and is not related to breaking rules.
Practice
The tenant was in ___ of the lease when he sublet the apartment without permission.
Choose one answer.
Breach of a lease is a violation of its terms. Breech sounds the same but refers to the back of a gun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “breach”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.