overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

breach.

A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/Received-Pronunciation[ˈbɹʷɪi̯t͡ʃ]Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɹit͡ʃ/Canada, General-American/ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/Australia
  1. A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence.

  2. The act of breaking, in a figurative sense.

  3. A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment.

    breach of promise
  4. A breaking up of amicable relations, a falling out.

  5. A difference in opinions, social class, etc.

    figuratively
  6. A breaking of waters, as over a vessel or a coastal defence; the waters themselves.

    A clear breach is when the waves roll over the vessel without breaking. A clean breach is when everything on deck is swept away.
  7. A breaking out upon; an assault.

  8. A bruise; a wound.

    archaic
  9. A hernia; a rupture.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”).

verb/ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/Received-Pronunciation[ˈbɹʷɪi̯t͡ʃ]Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɹit͡ʃ/Canada, General-American/ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/Australia
  1. To make a breach in.

    transitive
    They breached the outer wall, but not the main one.
  2. To violate or break.

    transitive
    breach an agreement
    breach an accord
  3. To break into a ship or into a coastal defence.

    transitive
  4. To suffer a breach.

    intransitive
  5. To leap out of the water.

    intransitive
  6. To charge, convict or take legal action against someone due to not meeting a legal obligation.

    informal · passive · transitive · usually
Where this word comes from

From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

breach has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

breach studiobreach workshello, breach

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.