line break

Meanings

nounline break (plural line breaks)

plural line breaks · alternative line-break · alternative linebreak

mediaA point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line.
computingA character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text.
Near-synonyms: newline, line feed, carriage return, hard return, soft return (sometimes synonymous)
Synonyms: newline, line feed, carriage return, hard return, soft return
ball gamesA break made through the opposition's defensive line.
1 more example
Toby Flood replaced Wilkinson at the break and scrum-half Ben Youngs scored almost directly from the restart, spotting a gap down the short side and linking well with Tuilagi down the right flank, and nine minutes later full-back Ben Foden extended England's lead following a bullocking line-break by Tuilagi.
2011 September 24, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 67-3 Romania”, in BBC Sport

nounA character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text.

Also see

Chinese Mandarin 斷行 /断行, 換行 /换行

斷行 /断行 (duànháng)a point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text
換行 /换行 (huànháng)a point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text
移行 (yíháng)a point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text

Finnish rivinvaihto

rivinvaihtoa point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text

French saut de ligne, retour à la ligne

saut de lignea point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text
retour à la lignea point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text
retour chariota point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text

German Zeilenumbruch, Zeilenwechsel

Zeilenumbrucha point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text
Zeilenwechsela point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text

Hungarian sortörés

sortörésa point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text

Spanish salto de línea

salto de líneaa point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text

Turkish satır sonu, yeni satır

satır sonua point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text
yeni satıra point in writing where text that would normally continue on the same line starts at the beginning of a new line or the character indicating that subsequent characters should appear on a separate line of text

Cite this entry

APA

line break. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/line%20break

MLA

“line break.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/line%20break. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “line break,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/line%20break.