break ranks
break ranks
(of soldiers or police officers) fail to remain in line.
fail to maintain solidarity.
Related Idioms and Phrases :
break the back of
accomplish the main or hardest part of a task
overwhelm or defeat
break the bank
(in gambling) win more money than is held by the bank.
cost more than you can afford – informal
break a butterfly on a wheel
use unnecessary force in destroying something fragile or insignificant
In former times, breaking someone upon the wheel was a form of punishment or torture which involved fastening criminals to a wheel so that their bones would be broken or dislocated.
1998 - Times - But why break a butterfly upon a wheel? What harm does the Liberal Democrat leader do? Unfortunately he may be about to do a great deal.
break a leg!
good luck! - theatrical slang
break cover
emerge into the open
suddenly leave a place of shelter.
Break cover originally referred to a hunted animal emerging from the undergrowth in which it had been hiding.
break the ice
do or say something to relieve tension or get conversation started at the start of a party or when people meet for the first time.
break the mould
put an end to a pattern of events or behaviour, especially one that has become rigid and restrictive, by doing things in a markedly different way.
Originally this phrase referred to casting artefacts in moulds : destroying a mould ensured that no further identical examples could be produced. The expression became a catchphrase in Britain in the early 1980s with the foundation of the Social Democratic Party. Its founders promoted the party as breaking the out-of-date mould of British politics, a phrase used by Roy Jenkins in a speech in 1980.
break new ground = break fresh ground
do pioneering work.
break ship
fail to rejoin your ship after absence on leave.
give me a break!
used to express contemptuous disagreement or disbelief about something that has been said.
give someone a break
stop putting pressure – informal
let one do what one can without pressure
make a break for
make a sudden dash in the direction of, usually in a bid to escape.
make a clean break
remove yourself completely and finally from a situation or relationship.
that's the breaks = them's the breaks
that's the way things turn out (used to express a resigned acceptance of a situation) – North American - informal
break ranks :
Idioms Index – Previous Page
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