step-up, increase - the act of increasing something; "he gave me an increase in salary"

break up, part, split, split up, separate, break - discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up"

change integrity - change in physical make-up

subdivide - divide into smaller and smaller pieces; "This apartment cannot be subdivided any further!"

initialise, initialize, format - divide (a disk) into marked sectors so that it may store data; "Please format this disk before entering data!"

sectionalise, sectionalize - divide into sections, especially into geographic sections; "sectionalize a country"

triangulate - divide into triangles or give a triangular form to; "triangulate the piece of cardboard"

unitise, unitize - divide (bulk material) and process as units

lot - divide into lots, as of land, for example

parcel - divide into parts; "The developers parceled the land"

sliver, splinter - divide into slivers or splinters

paragraph - divide into paragraphs, as of text; "This story is well paragraphed"

canton - divide into cantons, of a country

Balkanise, Balkanize - divide a territory into small, hostile states

give the bounce, give the gate, give the axe - terminate a relationship abruptly; "Mary gave John the axe after she saw him with another woman"

disunify, break apart - break up or separate; "The country is disunifying"; "Yugoslavia broke apart after 1989"

disassociate, disjoint, dissociate, disunite, divorce - part; cease or break association with; "She disassociated herself from the organization when she found out the identity of the president"

break with - end a relationship; "China broke with Russia"

split up, divorce - get a divorce; formally terminate a marriage; "The couple divorced after only 6 months"

secede, splinter, break away - withdraw from an organization or communion; "After the break up of the Soviet Union, many republics broke away"

break away, break - interrupt a continued activity; "She had broken with the traditional patterns"

change integrity - change in physical make-up

burst, break open, split - break open or apart suddenly; "The bubble burst"

puncture - be pierced or punctured; "The tire punctured"

bust, burst - break open or apart suddenly and forcefully; "The dam burst"

smash - break suddenly into pieces, as from a violent blow; "The window smashed"

ladder, run - come unraveled or undone as if by snagging; "Her nylons were running"

break - destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments; "He broke the glass plate"; "She broke the match"

snap, crack - break suddenly and abruptly, as under tension; "The rope snapped"

fragment, fragmentise, fragmentize, break up - break or cause to break into pieces; "The plate fragmented"

crush - become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure; "The plastic bottle crushed against the wall"