Meanings
present singular third person makes a break for it · participle present making a break for it · participle past made a break for it · past made a break for it
- idiomaticTo attempt to escape; to flee; to run away.
"By Gar! it was as well that he made a break for it before the note reached us! I guess he won't show his face in this valley again."
1915, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 3, in The Valley of Fear1 more example
To restrain runaways who are too fragile to survive on the outside, Administrator Edward Farmilant of Chicago's Somerset nursing home gave the front door guard pictures of 36 patients who might make a break for it.
2006 July 12, “Behavior: The New Runaways: Old Folks”, in TimeSynonyms: make a run for it
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo attempt to escape; to flee; to run away.
Cite this entry
make a break for it. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20break%20for%20it
“make a break for it.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20break%20for%20it. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “make a break for it,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20break%20for%20it.
Source: make a break for it on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.