break silence
To breach a norm against communication or against communicating a specific type of…To breach a norm against communication or against communicating a specific type of information.
» We need to break radio silence.
CM · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 sensesTo breach a norm against communication or against communicating a specific type of information.
Breaking radio silence risked disclosing our presence.
They were ostracized for breaking the blue wall of silence about police misconduct.
Examples
12 sentencesWe need to break radio silence.
I just don't want to break the silence.
Maybe one day we will break this silence.
Suddenly, as if to break the silence, the telephone began to ring.
His phone started to vibrate, breaking the silence.
Forms
breaks silence, breaking silence, broke silence, broken silence| Base form | break silence · to break silence |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | breaks silence |
| Present participle | breaking silence |
| Past simple | broke silence |
| Past participle | broken silence |
irregular · Lesson
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.