Break a habit to stop doing something that you do regularly, especially something that you should not do, e.G. A new drug which helps smokers to break their habit.

break somebody's concentration to interrupt someone and stop them from being able to continue thinking or talking about something, e.g. The slightest sound would break his concentration.

break the silence to end a period of silence by talking or making a noise, e.g. The silence was broken by a loud scream.

break somebody's spirit to destroy someone's feeling of determination, e.g. They could not break her spirit.

break off phr v to suddenly stop talking, e.g. She started to speak, then broke off while a waitress served us coffee.

broken home a family that no longer lives together because the parents have divorced, e.g. The majority of offenders do not come from broken homes.

broken marriage a marriage that has ended because the husband and wife do not live together any more

a broken heart a feeling of extreme sadness, especially because someone you love has died or left you, e.g. I reckon she died of a broken heart.

8. bore v to make someone feel bored, especially by talking too much about something they are not interested in, e.g. He's the sort of person who bores you at parties.

bore somebody with something, e.g. I won't bore you with all the technical details.

bore somebody to death/tears make them very bored

bore n 1) something that is not interesting to you or that annoys you, e.g. Waiting is a bore.

2) someone who is boring, especially because they talk too much about themselves or about things that do not interest you, e.g. He turned out to be a crashing bore (used to emphasize that someone is very boring).

bored adj tired and impatient because you do not think something is interesting, or because you have nothing to do, e.g. He was easily bored.

bored with, e.g. Are you bored with your present job?

bored stiff/to tears/to death/out of your mind extremely bored

boring adj not interesting in any way, e.g. Her husband is about the most boring person I've ever met. The job was dull and boring.

dead/incredibly/terribly etc boring very boring

Syn.: not very interesting: dull, dreary, drab

very boring: tedious, mind-numbing, soul-destroying

9. impose v 1) if someone in authority imposes a rule, punishment, tax etc, they force people to accept it, e.g. The court can impose a fine.

to impose something on/upon something/somebody, e.g. The government imposed a ban on the sale of ivory.

2) to force someone to have the same ideas, beliefs etc as you impose something on somebody, e.g. Parents impose their own moral values on their children.

to impose a burden/hardship etc (on somebody/something), e.g. Military spending imposes a huge strain on the economy.

imposing adj large, impressive, and appearing important, as an imposing building, appearance, e.g. He's a tall, quietly spoken, but imposing figure.

self-imposed (usually before noun) a self-imposed rule, duty etc is one that you have made for yourself, and which no one has asked you to accept, e.g. She spent five years in self-imposed exile in Bolivia.

10. marry v 1) if you marry someone, you become their husband or wife as to marry a fortune, to marry down; to marry for convenience (money, love), e.g. He married Bea in 1925. I'm going to ask her to marry me on St Valentine's Day.

2) to perform the ceremony at which two people get married, e.g. The priest who married us was really nice.

3) to find a husband or wife for one of your children

marry somebody to somebody, e.g. She was determined to marry all of her daughters to rich men.

marry somebody off to to find a husband or wife for someone - used in order to show disapproval, e.g. They married her off to the first young man who came along.

not the marrying kind not the type of person who wants to get married, e.g. I'm just not the marrying kind.

marry into something to join a family or social group by marrying someone who belongs to it, e.g. She married into a very wealthy family.

married adj having a husband or a wife, as just married; parents of the married couple; 10 years married; to settle down to married life; married creep; married life; married with children; married couple/man/woman; a happily married man, e.g. Are you married or single? They've been married for eight years. Married men earn 70 percent more than single men.

get married is more common than marry as be married to someone or get married to someone, e.g. Nicole is married to my brother. We're getting married (marrying) next month.

be married to something to give most of your time and attention to a job or activity, e.g. I was married to my job.

4) also marry up (formal) to combine two different ideas, designs, tastes etc together

to marry something with/to something, e.g. The building's design marries a traditional style with modern materials.

marry something and something, e.g. He writes fiction that marries up realism and the supernatural.