break open
phrasal verb
broke open; broken open; breaking open; breaks open
: to open or to cause (something) to open suddenly
The pods broke open and the seeds scattered on the wind.
The police broke open the door.
The burglars broke the locked safe open.
Examples of break open in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In the clip, rescuers carefully break open a hole in the wall with a sledgehammer.
—
Raven Brunner, Peoplemag, 15 May 2024
The front office doesn’t need to break open any binders for contingency plans starting with what to do with a top-four pick.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 14 May 2024
In the seventh inning, Los Angeles scored four additional runs to break open the game.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 12 May 2024
Who is the Indian nationalist who falls in love with the song or has her heart broken open by it?
—Emily Lordi Philip Cheung, New York Times, 10 May 2024
Something in me broke open, then just as quickly slammed shut.
—Rebecca Gummere, TIME, 8 May 2024
Harvard-Westlake 7, Norco 2: The Wolverines broke open a 2-2 game and will play at Bonita on Tuesday.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2024
But some users credit the app with breaking open the national conversation around mental illness.
—New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
An area of the plaque can break open, causing a blood clot and blocking the blood flow.
—Yuliya Klochan, Health, 14 Apr. 2024
Raven Brunner, Peoplemag, 15 May 2024
The front office doesn’t need to break open any binders for contingency plans starting with what to do with a top-four pick.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 14 May 2024
In the seventh inning, Los Angeles scored four additional runs to break open the game.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 12 May 2024
Who is the Indian nationalist who falls in love with the song or has her heart broken open by it?
—Emily Lordi Philip Cheung, New York Times, 10 May 2024
Something in me broke open, then just as quickly slammed shut.
—Rebecca Gummere, TIME, 8 May 2024
Harvard-Westlake 7, Norco 2: The Wolverines broke open a 2-2 game and will play at Bonita on Tuesday.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2024
But some users credit the app with breaking open the national conversation around mental illness.
—New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
An area of the plaque can break open, causing a blood clot and blocking the blood flow.
—Yuliya Klochan, Health, 14 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'break open.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Break open.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/break%20open. Accessed 23 May. 2024.
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