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Greek

To break

κλάωStrong’s G2806

klaō

Appears in 14 verses of the New Testament

In short

Klaō is the Greek word usually translated “broke”, “having broken” and “breaking”. It appears in 14 verses of the New Testament.

“And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”
Matthew 14:19 KJV
Meaning

Usually translated “broke”, “having broken” and “breaking”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated
  • he broke 5
  • having broken 4
  • breaking 2
  • broke 1
  • i broke 1
  • we break 1
  • being broken 1

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Acts 4
  • Matthew 3
  • Mark 3
  • Luke 2
  • 1 Corinthians 2

5 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 14 verses, by book
1 Corinthians 2
10:1611:24
Greek dictionary

κλάω klaō · to break

κλάω [in LXX: Jer.16:7 (פַּרְנַךְ), al. ;] to break, break in pieces: of bread, Mat.14:19 15:36 26:26, Mrk.8:6 14:22, Luk.22:19 24:30, Act.2:46 20:7, 11 27:35, 1Co.10:16 11:24; before εἰς, with accusative of person(s), Mrk.8:19 (cf. ἐκ-, κατα-κλάω).† (AS)

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “break” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

BREAK, verb transitive

preterit tense broke, [brake.obs.] participle passive broke or broken.

  1. To part or divide by force and violence, as a solid substance; to rend apart; as, to break a band; to break a thread or a cable.
  2. To burst or open by force.
  3. To divide by piercing or penetrating; to burst forth; as, the light breaks through the clouds.
  4. To make breaches or gaps by battering, as in a wall.
All definitions and other forms of “break”
  1. To destroy, crush, weaken, or impair, as the human body or constitution.
  2. To sink; to appall or subdue; as, to break the spirits, or the passions.
  3. To crush; to shatter; to dissipate the strength of, as of an army.
  4. To weaken, or impair, as the faculties.
  5. To tame; to train to obedience; to make tractable; as, to break a horse.
  6. To make bankrupt.
  7. To discard, dismiss or cashier; as, to break an officer.
  8. To crack, to part or divide, as the skin; to open, as an aposteme.
  9. To violate, as a contract or promise, either by a positive act contrary to the promise, or by neglect or non-fulfillment.
  10. To infringe or violate, as a law, or any moral obligation, either by a positive act or by an omission of what is required.
  11. To stop; to interrupt; to cause to cease; as, to break conversation; to break sleep.
  12. To intercept; to check; to lessen the force of; as, to break a fall, or a blow.
  13. To separate; to part; as, to break company of friendship.
  14. To dissolve any union; sometimes with off; as, to break off a connection.
  15. To cause to abandon; to reform or cause to reform; as, to break one of ill habits or practices.
  16. To open as a purpose; to propound something new; to make a first disclosure of opinions; as, to break one's mind.
  17. To frustrate; to prevent.
  18. To take away; as, to break the whole staff of bread.
  19. To stretch; to strain; to rack; as, to break one on the wheel.“BREAK off thy sins by righteousness” Daniel 4:27
  20. To sever; to divide; as, to break off a twig.
  21. To open or lay open; as, to break up a bed of earth.
  22. To plow ground the first time, or after lying long unplowed; a common use in the U.
  23. To separate; as, to break up a company.
  24. To disband; as, to break up an army.

BREAK, verb intransitive

To part; to separate; to divide in two; as, the ice breaks; a band breaks.

  1. To burst; as, a storm or deluge breaks.
  2. To burst, by dashing against something; as, a wave breaks upon a rock.
  3. To open, as a tumor or aposteme.
  4. To open, as the morning; to show the first light; to dawn.
  5. To burst forth; to utter or exclaim.
  6. To fail in trade or other occupation; to become bankrupt.
  7. To decline in health and strength; to begin to lose the natural vigor.
  8. To issue out with vehemence.
  9. To make way with violence or suddenness; to rush; often with a particle; as, to break in; to break in upon, as calamities; to break over, as a flood; to break out, as a fire; to break forth, as light or a sound.
  10. To come to an explanation.
  11. To suffer an interruption of friendship; to fall out.
  12. To faint, flag or pant.“My soul breaketh for longing to thy judgments” Psalms 119:20
  13. To appear in eruptions, as pustules; to have pustules, or an efflorescence on the skin, as a child breaks out.
  14. To throw off restraint, and become dissolute.

BREAK, noun

A state of being open, or the act of separating; an opening made by force; an open place. It is the same word as brack, differently written and pronounced.

  1. A pause; an interruption.
  2. A line in writing or printing, noting a suspension of the sense, or a stop in the sentence.
  3. In a ship, the break of the deck is the part where it terminates, and the descent on to the next deck below commences.
  4. The first appearance of light in the morning; the dawn; as the break of day.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.