break the wind—said of a line of trees, fence, etc. which gives protection against the wind:
- The dunes break the wind on the beach and provide a beautiful background.
break wind—(euph., also: pass wind) expel intestinal gas from the anus:
- I’ll kill the first son of a bitch who even breaks wind.
Note: Neither expression correlates in meaning with the compound broken-winded—(also: wind-broken) used of a horse that has impaired breathing:
- The train was heavy, and where there was any incline the two engines grunted like brokenwinded horses.