Pronunciations (4)
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/ˈbɹəʊ.kn̩/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/ˈbɹoʊ.kɪn/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
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/ˈbɹoʊ.kən/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
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ˈbɹəʊkən
Adjective
Fragmented; in separate pieces.
- Examples
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One recent morning the team had to replace a broken weather research station.
More examples (1)
Local people say there were Russian and Chechen forces here.[…]Over here on the wall, one interesting detail- a single word, which someone has written in broken English: "Sori".
Fragmented; in separate pieces. Fractured; having the bone in pieces.
Usage- of a bone or body part
- Examples
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My arm is broken!
The ground was littered with broken bones.
Fragmented; in separate pieces. Split or ruptured.
Usage- of skin
- Examples
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A dog bit my leg and now the skin is broken.
Fragmented; in separate pieces. Dashed; made up of short lines with small gaps between each one and the next.
Usage- of a line
Fragmented; in separate pieces. Interrupted; not continuous.
Usage- of sleep
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Then the circle would lie down again, and here and there a wolf would resume its broken nap.
Fragmented; in separate pieces. Five-eighths to seven-eighths obscured by clouds; incompletely covered by clouds.
Usage- of the sky
- Examples
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Tomorrow: broken skies.
Fragmented; in separate pieces. Having periods of silence scattered throughout; not regularly continuous.
Usage- of a melody
- Examples
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A cuckoo sat on a gate-post singing his broken June tune[.]
Breached; violated; not kept.
Usage- of a promise
- Synonyms
- Examples
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broken promises of neutrality
broken vows
More examples (1)
the broken covenant
Non-functional; not functioning properly.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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I think my doorbell is broken.
Non-functional; not functioning properly. Disconnected, no longer open or carrying traffic.
Usage- of an electronic connection
Non-functional; not functioning properly. Badly designed or implemented.
Usage- Informal
- Examples
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This is the most broken application I've seen in a long time.
Non-functional; not functioning properly. Grammatically non-standard, especially as a result of being produced by a non-native speaker.
Usage- of language
- Examples
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More examples (1)
His conversation was in French with Mailey and Roxton, who both spoke the language well, but he had to fall back upon broken English with Malone, who could only utter still more broken French in reply.
Don't say it in Russian / Don't say it in German / Say it in broken English
Non-functional; not functioning properly. Not having gone in the way intended; saddening.
Usage- US usage
- Colloquial
- of a situation
- Examples
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Oh man! That is just broken!
Completely defeated and dispirited; shattered; destroyed.
Usage- of a person
- Examples
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The bankruptcy and divorce, together with the death of his son, left him completely broken.
He said, "Son, when you grow up / Would you be the savior of the broken / The beaten, and the damned?"
More examples (1)
And oh, maybe I see a part of me in them / The missing piece, always trying to fit in / The shattered heart, hungry for a home / No, you're not alone / I love the broken ones / I love the broken ones
Having no money; bankrupt, broke.
Uneven.
Usage- of land
- Examples
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More examples (1)
All that day they rode into broken land. The prairie with its grass and rolling hills was behind them, and they entered a sparse, dry, rocky country, full of draws and short cañons and ominous buttresses.
Overpowered; overly powerful; giving a player too much power.
Usage- of a tactic or option
- Synonyms
- Examples
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This item is incredibly broken. I win almost every run I get to use it.
Adjective
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
- Antonyms
- Examples
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a broken mirror
a broken tooth
More examples (2)
a broken leg
his neck is broken
not continuous in space, time, or sequence or varying abruptly
- Antonyms
- Examples
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broken lines of defense
a broken cable transmission
More examples (4)
broken sleep
tear off the stub above the broken line
a broken note
broken sobs
subdued or brought low in condition or status
- Synonyms
- Examples
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brought low
a broken man
More examples (1)
his broken spirit
(especially of promises or contracts) having been violated or disregarded
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Examples
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broken (or unkept) promises
broken contracts
tamed or trained to obey
- Synonyms
- Examples
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a horse broken to the saddle
this old nag is well broken in
topographically very uneven
- Synonyms
- Examples
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broken terrain
rugged ground
imperfectly spoken or written
- Examples
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broken English
thrown into a state of disarray or confusion
- Synonyms
- Examples
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troops fleeing in broken ranks
a confused mass of papers on the desk
More examples (2)
the small disordered room
with everything so upset
weakened and infirm
- Examples
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broken health resulting from alcoholism
destroyed financially
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the broken fortunes of the family
out of working order (‘busted’ is an informal substitute for ‘broken’)
- Synonyms
- Examples
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a broken washing machine
the coke machine is broken
More examples (1)
the coke machine is busted
discontinuous
- Examples
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broken clouds
broken sunshine
lacking a part or parts
- Examples
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a broken set of encyclopedia