1a. An opening, a tear, or a rupture. b. A gap or rift, especially in or as if in a solid structure such as a dike or fortification. 2. A violation or infraction, as of a law, a legal obligation, or a promise. 3. A breaking up or disruption of friendly relations; an estrangement. 4. A leap of a whale from the water. 5. The breaking of waves or surf.
VERB:
Inflected forms: breached, breach·ing, breach·es
TRANSITIVE VERB:
1. To make a hole or gap in; break through. 2. To break or violate (an agreement, for example).
INTRANSITIVE VERB:
To leap from the water: waiting for the whale to breach.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English breche, from Old English brc. See bhreg- in Appendix I.
SYNONYMS:
breach, infraction, violation, transgression, trespass, infringement These nouns denote an act or instance of breaking a law or regulation or failing to fulfill a duty, obligation, or promise. Breach and infraction are the least specific: Revealing the secret would be a breach of trust. Infractions of the rules will not be tolerated. A violation is committed willfully and with complete lack of regard for legal, moral, or ethical considerations: In violation of her contract, she failed to appear.Transgression most often applies to divine or moral law: “The children shall not be punished for the father's transgression” (Daniel Defoe). Trespass implies willful intrusion on another's rights, possessions, or person: “In the limited and confined sense [trespass] signifies no more than an entry on another man's ground without a lawful authority” (William Blackstone). Infringement is most frequently used to denote encroachment on another's rights: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom” (William Pitt the Younger).
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