Bro"ken (brō"k'n), a. [From
Break, v. t.] 1. Separated
into parts or pieces by violence; divided into fragments; as, a
broken chain or rope; a broken dish.
2. Disconnected; not continuous; also, rough;
uneven; as, a broken surface.
3. Fractured; cracked; disunited; sundered;
strained; apart; as, a broken reed; broken
friendship.
4. Made infirm or weak, by disease, age, or
hardships.
The one being who remembered him as he been before his mind
was broken.
G. Eliot.
The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay,
Sat by his fire, and talked the night away.
Goldsmith.
5. Subdued; humbled; contrite.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
Ps. li. 17.
6. Subjugated; trained for use, as a
horse.
7. Crushed and ruined as by something that destroys
hope; blighted. "Her broken love and life." G.
Eliot.
8. Not carried into effect; not adhered to;
violated; as, a broken promise, vow, or contract; a broken
law.
9. Ruined financially; incapable of redeeming
promises made, or of paying debts incurred; as, a broken bank; a
broken tradesman.
10. Imperfectly spoken, as by a foreigner; as,
broken English; imperfectly spoken on account of emotion; as, to say
a few broken words at parting.
Amidst the broken words and loud weeping of those
grave senators.
Macaulay.
Broken ground. (a) (Mil.)
Rough or uneven ground; as, the troops were retarded in their advance
by broken ground. (b) Ground recently
opened with the plow. -- Broken line (Geom.),
the straight lines which join a number of given points taken in some
specified order. -- Broken meat, fragments of
meat or other food. -- Broken number, a
fraction. -- Broken weather, unsettled
weather.
