breaches

Noun

breach (plural breaches)

1. A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence.
   • "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead."1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

   Synonyms:

   break, rupture, fissure

2. The act of breaking, in a figurative sense.
   • But were the poet to make a total difression from his subject, and introduce a new actor, nowise connected with the personages, the imagination, feeling a breach in transition, would enter coldly into the new scene;1748, David Hume, Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, Section 3, § 12
3. A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment.
   • breach of promise
4. A breaking up of amicable relations, a falling out.
   • There's fallen between him and my lord / An unkind breach.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
5. (figuratively) A difference in opinions, social class, etc.
   • For London to have its own exclusive immigration policy would exacerbate the sense that immigration benefits only certain groups and disadvantages the rest. It would entrench the gap between London and the rest of the nation. And it would widen the breach between the public and the elite that has...2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Sep 2013
6. A breaking of waters, as over a vessel or a coastal defence; the waters themselves.
   • A clear breach is when the waves roll over the vessel without breaking. A clean breach is when everything on deck is swept away.

   Synonyms:

   surge, surf

See all 16 meanings of breach