to break up
Preserved but no longer current.
To discontinue classes at the end of term time and go home; to separate. Also, to become rapidly decrepit or infirm. "Old So-and-so is breaking up; he's not long for this world.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Examples
Tatoeba sentence #394802 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to break up” mean?
To discontinue classes at the end of term time and go home; to separate. Also, to become rapidly decrepit or infirm. "Old So-and-so is breaking up; he's not long for this world.
Is “to break up” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.