A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

break camp • break out of camp
break camp —leave a camp or a camping-place: The daily
routine will be to break camp after breakfast and load our
equipment onto the boats.
break out of camp —escape from a detention camp: The fol-
lowing day they tried to break out of camp and although un-
armed they were shot down.
break down • break up
break down —
1
. (of machinery) fail to operate: The car broke
down on the way to the airport, and I had to take a taxi. 2.
(of an attack, talks, etc.) fail; come to nothing: I expect the
negotiations to break down soon. 3. suffer emotional disorder;
lose control of oneself: The task before her was so difficult
that she almost broke down in performing it.
break up —
1
. (of things) separate into smaller pieces or parts:
In spring the ice on the Great Lakes breaks up. 2. (of a party,
meeting, etc.) come to an end: The party broke up when the
police arrived. 3. (U.S. coll.) convulse with laughter; be greatly
amused: Peter just broke up when we told him what had hap-
pened. 4. (of married people) separate: She had heard that John
and Lucille had just broken up.
break even • get an even break
break even —emerge from a transaction, etc. with balancing
gains and losses; make neither profit nor loss: Today a novel
needs to sell 5,000 copies for a publisher to break even.
get an even break —(coll.) get an equal or fair chance; get
the same opportunity as other people: Some guys never get
an even break. Some guys toil and sweat from sun up to sun
down.
break into a bank • break the bank
break into a bank —get into a bank by using force (breaking
a lock, window, etc.) with the intention to rob: Champ’s ac-
complice produces blueprints showing how they can break
into the bank by digging a tunnel under the sweet shop.
break the bank —
1
. win all the money at a casino gambling
table: He broke the bank at every roulette table he played in,
which essentially meant that he won all the money set for that
table. 2. (often negat.) be too expensive: Even well-known
brand names, such as Revlon and L’Oreal stock affordable
products that won’t break the bank, so it’s good to go hunting
around for sales.