spring breaking

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableinformalAmerican

   the activity of traveling to a warm place for a short holiday during a school or university spring vacation.

   Grammar: Used as an uncountable activity noun: 'Spring breaking is popular with students.' Do not say 'a spring breaking'.

   Patterns

   • go spring breaking
   • spring breaking in a place

   Every March, thousands of students go spring breaking in Florida.

   Spring breaking has become a big business for hotels near the beach.

   They saved all year so they could go spring breaking together.

2. 2adjectivebefore a nouninformalAmerican

   relating to a short spring holiday trip, especially one taken by students.

   Grammar: Comes before a noun, often with a hyphen: 'a spring-breaking trip'. It is not used after the verb.

   Patterns

   • a spring-breaking trip
   • a spring-breaking holiday

   She posted photos from her spring-breaking trip to Mexico.

   The airline added extra flights for the spring-breaking season.

Common combinations

go spring breaking

My cousins are going spring breaking in Texas this year.

spring breaking destination

Miami is a classic spring breaking destination.

spring breaking trip

They planned a spring breaking trip on a tight budget.

spring breaking crowd

The quiet town was not ready for the spring breaking crowd.

Synonyms and how they differ

spring break

This is the holiday itself, not the activity; use it for the vacation period, and 'spring breaking' for what people do during it.

vacationing

A general word for taking a holiday; 'spring breaking' specifically suggests students and a spring break.

Word family

spring break noun

the spring holiday from school or university

spring breaker noun

a student who goes on a spring break trip

Commonly confused: spring breaking or spring roll?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “spring breaking”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words