Breaker: A Wave, a Switch, and a Voice on the Radio
A breaker is a wave collapsing into foam, an electrical switch that cuts a circuit, or anyone who breaks something. The senses have little in common beyond the verb.
Breaker is the agent noun of *break*, and English has attached it to whatever needed a name. A wave that breaks, a switch that breaks a circuit, a person who breaks a rule — the grammar is identical each time.
- A wave breaking into foam. *Breakers crashed on the shingle.*
- A switch that cuts a circuit. *The breaker tripped again.*
- One who breaks something. *A strike-breaker.*
- A call sign on CB radio. *Breaker one-nine.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | breaker | A heavy breaker. |
| Verb | break | The wave broke. |
| Compound | circuit breaker | Reset the circuit breaker. |
| Compound | ice-breaker | An ice-breaker question. |
| Compound | record-breaker | A record-breaker at nineteen. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Surfers waited beyond the breakers.Almost always plural in the sea sense.
- The circuit breaker cut the power instantly.A safety device, not a fuse — it can be reset.
- A game of two truths is a good ice-breaker.Something that breaks social awkwardness.
Compounds built on breaker
- Ice-breaker — a ship, or an activity that starts conversation
- Tie-breaker — decides a drawn contest
- Deal-breaker — the condition that ends a negotiation
- Circuit breaker — cuts electrical current, and in finance halts trading
- Housebreaker — a burglar, in older legal language
The wave sense is recorded from the seventeenth century, the electrical one from the late nineteenth, when domestic wiring made a resettable safety switch necessary.
Breaker or fuse?
A fuse melts and must be replaced. A breaker trips and can be switched back on, which is why modern homes use breakers.
What is a deal-breaker?
The single condition that would make someone walk away, however good the rest of the offer is.