breakaway

4 definitions • 11 examples

an act of separating from a group, especially because of disagreement:

The sports association accepted the inevitability of a breakaway by the elite clubs.

The breakaway group formed a new political party.

in the sport of cycle racing (= racing on bicycles), a rider or a small group of riders that goes ahead of the main group and tries to keep at a distance from it, or an occasion when this happens:

The peloton usually catches the breakaway before the finish line.

Without radio contact, if a group breaks away from the peloton the riders usually don't know who is in the breakaway.

There was a breakaway shortly before the first climb.

Solo breakaways are almost never successful.

The breakaway riders were far enough ahead to have hopes of a win.

in many team sports such as football, basketball, and hockey, the action of running or moving ahead of all the other players towards the goal:

He scored on a breakaway.

They have some good players now who are very fast on the breakaway.

Soon afterwards she scored another brilliant breakaway goal.

independent after leaving another group:

a breakaway republic/territory