break a/the spell
1. Literally, to stop the effects of a magic spell, as in a fantasy story or film. My kids love this movie—it's about a group of animals working to break a spell on their forest. The wizard's acting strange now too? Oh man, how are we going to break the spell without his help? The man will stay a frog until someone is able to break the spell on him.
2. By extension, to stop one from being charmed by or enthralled with someone or something. I was totally smitten with my date, until his sexism started to come out—that totally broke the spell! He thinks this place is charming? Ha, wait till he's woken up by roosters every morning—that'll break the spell. What does it take to break the spell of a bad boy on a good girl?
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
break the spell
1. to put an end to a magic spell. The wizard looked in his magic book to find out how to break the spell.
2. to do something that ends a desirable period of figurative enchantment. At the end of the second movement, some idiot broke the spell by applauding.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.