give sb a break
51break — [n1] fissure, opening breach, cleft, crack, discontinuity, disjunction, division, fracture, gap, gash, hole, rent, rift, rupture, schism, split, tear; concepts 230,757 Ant. association, attachment, binding, combination, fastening, juncture break… …
52give — [giv] vt. gave, given, giving [ME given (with g < ON gefa, to give), yeven < OE giefan, akin to Ger geben < IE base * ghabh , to grasp, take > L habere, to have: the special Gmc sense of this base results from its use as a substitute… …
53give — ► VERB (past gave; past part. given) 1) freely transfer the possession of; cause to receive or have. 2) yield as a product or result. 3) carry out (an action). 4) cause to experience or suffer. 5) state or put forward (information or argument) …
54give — O.E. giefan (W. Saxon) to give, bestow; allot, grant; commit, devote, entrust, class V strong verb (past tense geaf, pp. giefen), from P.Gmc. *gebanan (Cf. O.Fris. jeva, M.Du. gheven, Du. geven, O.H.G. geban, Ger. geben, Goth. giban), from PIE… …
55give — [v1] contribute, supply, transfer accord, administer, allow, ante up, award, bequeath, bestow, cede, come across, commit, confer, consign, convey, deed, deliver, dish out*, dispense, dispose of, dole out, donate, endow, entrust, fork over*,… …
56give vent to — 1. To allow to escape or break out 2. To give (usu violent) expression to (an emotion) • • • Main Entry: ↑vent * * * give vent to phrase to express very strong anger or sadness The meetings allow people to give vent to their frustrations.… …
57break a habit — phrase to stop doing something that is a habit, especially something bad or harmful Interrupting others is annoying, so try to break the habit. Thesaurus: to give up doing somethingsynonym to kill a person or animalsynonym Main entry: break …
58break clause — A provision in a lease allowing either landlord or tenant to give notice to the other to terminate the lease at a fixed time before the end of its full period. Easyform Glossary of Law Terms. UK law terms. break clause …
59give way — ► give way 1) yield. 2) be unable to carry a load or withstand a force and collapse or break. 3) allow another to be or go first. 4) (give way to) be replaced or superseded by. Main Entry: ↑way …
60break faith with something — break faith with (something/someone) formal to stop supporting an idea or person, especially by not doing what you promised to do. She claims that the government has broken faith with teachers by failing to give additional funds to education …
