1. break away
突然逃掉或離開。如：
The thief broke away from the policeman. 小偷從警察那逃脫了。
斷絕往來，脫離。如：
He broke away from all his old friends. 他同他所有的老朋友斷絕了往來。
改掉，破除。如：
You must break away from such habits. 你必須改掉那些習慣。
2. break down
壞了。如：
The car broke down after an hour’s driving. 車子開了一個小時就壞了。
失敗。如：
Our plans have broken down. 我們的.計劃已失敗了。
中斷。如：
He broke down as he was singing. 他沒唱完就突然停住了。
變壞。如：
Her health broke down under the pressure of work. 工作的壓力把他的身體弄垮了。
3. break in
突然進來，強行進入。如：
He broke in and stole my money. 他闖進來偷了我的錢。
插嘴，打岔。如：
He broke in with some ideas of his own. 他插話談了自己的一些想法。
Please don’t break in on our conversation. 請不要打斷我們的談話。
The secretary broke in to say that a telegram had just arrived. 祕書插話說剛收到一個電報。
注： 以上用法的 break in 通常是不及物的，但有時也用作及物動詞，帶賓語，表示：訓練某人，使某人適應。如：
He is breaking in the new man as a machine operator. 我在訓練那個新工人操作機器。
Two weeks in the new office should be enough to break you in. 在新辦公室上兩星期的班便足以讓你適應了。
