breaker
UK /ˈbɹeɪkə/ · US /ˈbɹeɪkɚ/ noun, interjection
Forms breakers
- noun Something that breaks (something else). “a breaker of men's souls”
- noun A machine for breaking rocks, or for breaking coal at the mines.
- noun The building in which such a machine is placed. “at the coal breaker”
- noun (chiefly in the plural) A wave breaking into foam against the shore, or against a sandbank, or a rock or reef near the surface, considered a useful warning to ships of an underwater hazard
- noun (colloquial) A breakdancer.
- noun (US, dated) A user of CB radio.
- interjection (US, dated) Used to open a conversation or call for a response on CB radio. “breaker one nine”
- noun A small cask of liquid kept permanently in a ship’s boat in case of shipwreck.
Synonyms
destroyer wrecker scrapper knacker breaker's yard more at wreck yard B-boy B-girl ledgeman surf breakers circuit breaker
Etymology
From Middle English breker, brekere, equivalent to break + -er. Cognate with Dutch breker, German Low German Breker, German Brecher.
Probably from Spanish barrica (“barrel”). Doublet of barrique.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “breaker”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details