Word.ws English Dictionary

give someone a break

give someone a break verb: to stop harassing or demanding from someone.

Verb

give someone a break (third-person singular simple present gives someone a break, present participle giving someone a break, simple past gave someone a break, past participle given someone a break)

  1. (idiomatic, imperative) To stop harassing or demanding from someone.
    • “Oh, give me a break, sport. You want to pick my brain but you're not going ^([sic]) give me anything in return? What's up with that?”2003, Alecia Alexander, Everybody's a Critic, page 105
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To allow someone a respite.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To provide someone with an opportunity for advancement.

Forms of give someone a break

third-person singular presentgives someone a break
present participlegiving someone a break
pastgave someone a break
past participlegiven someone a break

Questions about give someone a break

What does give someone a break mean?
Give someone a break means to stop harassing or demanding from someone.
What part of speech is give someone a break?
Give someone a break is a verb.
What is the past tense of give someone a break?
The past tense of give someone a break is gave someone a break.

Words near give someone a break in the dictionary

  1. give pursuit
  2. give rise to
  3. give some skin
  4. give someone a bell
  5. give someone a bloody nose
  6. give someone a break
  7. give someone a buzz
  8. give someone a hand
  9. give someone a hard time
  10. give someone a jingle
  11. give someone a lift

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: give someone a break (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-give someone a break.ogg.

Cite this entry: “give someone a break.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/give_someone_a_break. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.