Word.ws English Dictionary

broke off

broke off is the simple past of break off.

Meaning of break off

Verb

break off (third-person singular simple present breaks off, present participle breaking off, simple past broke off, past participle broken off)

  1. (transitive) To remove a piece from a whole by breaking or snapping.
    • She unwrapped the slab of chocolate and broke off a piece.
  2. (intransitive) To become detached by breaking or snapping.
    • A chunk of rock broke off from the cliff face.
  3. (transitive) To discontinue abruptly.
    • Both families want the lovers to break off any relationship they may have.
  4. (intransitive) To end abruptly, either temporarily or permanently.
    • Our school doesn't break off until July.
  5. (ambitransitive) To play the first shot in a frame of snooker, billiards or pool.
    • Ted's opening line, when Steve broke off for the deciding frame, was, 'Last night we put our clocks back one hour. These two stars turned theirs back to April.'2017, John Virgo, Say Goodnight, JV - My Autobiography, John Blake Publishing, →ISBN
  6. (slang, transitive, African-American Vernacular) To give (someone) (something); to allow (someone) to take (something); to grant (someone) a share or portion of (something).
    • If you help, I'll break you off a piece of the proceeds.

Adjective

broke off (comparative more broke off, superlative most broke off)

  1. (slang) Well-to-do, rich, wealthy
    Synonyms:
    paid

Synonyms of broke off

Forms of broke off

comparativemore broke off
superlativemost broke off

Origin of broke off

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

From broken off, implying that a piece of the pie has been "broken off" for you.

Questions about broke off

What does broke off mean?
Broke off means well-to-do, rich, wealthy.
What is broke off the simple past of?
Broke off is the simple past of break off.
What part of speech is broke off?
Broke off is an adjective.

Words near broke off in the dictionary

  1. broke it down
  2. broke it to
  3. broke loose
  4. broke luck
  5. broke new ground
  6. broke off
  7. broke on
  8. broke on the wheel
  9. broke one off
  10. broke one's ass
  11. broke one's back

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: broke off (page history and authors); break off (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-broke off.ogg.

Cite this entry: “broke off.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/broke_off. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.