Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive, intransitive, archaic To break completely; crush.
  • verb transitive, intransitive, obsolete To break apart; break in pieces.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English tobreken ("to break apart, break in pieces, shatter"), from Old English tōbrecan, tebrecan ("to break in pieces, break apart"), from Proto-Germanic *tebrekanan (“to break apart”), equivalent to to- (“apart, in pieces”) +‎ break. Cognate with Old Saxon tebrekan ("to break apart"), Middle Dutch tebreken ("to break apart, shatter"), German zerbrechen ("to break apart, shatter, smash"). More at to, break.

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