break away—come apart from smth.:
- The wing of the plane broke away in mid-air.
break off—
1. = break away:
- The mast had broken off at its base, and lay over the side of the boat.
2. stop speaking:
- Jim was in the middle of a funny story when he broke off to answer the telephone.
3. stop working for a short time:
- Let’s break off and have a cup of tea.
break out—(of a war, fire, etc.) begin suddenly:
- A fire broke out in the hospital last night.