break loose
(redirected from broke loose)
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break loose
To physically separate from something. This phrase can be applied to both people and things. The robber had tied me to a chair, but I was able to break loose and flee the house. I had to chase my dog down the street after he broke loose during our walk. Those bricks in the yard must have broken loose from the chimney.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
break loose
(from someone) Go to break away (from someone).
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
break loose
Escape from restraint, as in The boat broke loose from its moorings, or He finally broke loose from the school of abstract expressionism. This expression also appears in all hell breaks loose, which indicates a state of fury or chaos, as in When Dad finds out you broke his watch, all hell will break loose, or When the children saw the dead pigeon in the hall, all hell broke loose. [Early 1400s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.