These words refer to intervals during which some activity stops or slackens. Break and spell stress the idea of interruption. They indicate a temporary time-out, as from work, for rest, refreshment, recreation or other purpose: a coffee break . Spell is a little more colloquial and is not qualified: Have a spell when you are tired. Pause is less abrupt and drastic, indicating a brief rest or a momentary suspension of action: the pause that refreshes. A scheduled interruption of a radio or TV programme that is called a station break at the studio is referred to in milder terms on the air as a pause for station identification. Pause is also used to stress the temporary nature of a cease-fire: a pause in the bombing; Government sources said there would be no prolonged pause in the war. Respite is a much more formal synonym for break . A respite is an interval of relief, as from some source of train: ceaseless toil that knows no respite ; the holiday truce was a welcome respite for the front-line troops. One takes a break or has a spell but is granted a respite : The workmen took a break so we enjoyed a brief respite from the noise.

A recess is an interval between the sessions of a school, court, legislature or the like. It implies a formal adjournment for a limited time, with a temporary suspension of business: The committee had a short recess ; a legislative recess before elections. A recess may be as brief as a break or as long as a holiday, but it presupposes some sort of official authorization.

• The cast decided to have a spell ; The judge declared a two-hour recess .

In school, a recess is a free period between classroom sessions during which the children may play, relax or get something to eat: boys playing marbles at recess .

An interlude is a period or episode that occurs in the course of a longer process and breaks its continuity: noise with interludes of quiet. By nature, an interlude contrasts with the activity it interrupts or the events it comes between ?often occurring as an interval of calm, a time of content or a touch of comic relief: interludes of lucidity in his delirium; a humorous interlude in a sober history; Their honeymoon was an idyllic interlude . Intermission and interval are synonyms for a scheduled recess between the acts of a play or the parts of a performance: to go out for a smoke during intermission . Interlude , on the other hand, may apply to an entertainment of a different kind that fills a break between the acts, as a brief, farcical comedy or a short, transitional passage of music: an orchestral interlude . In another sense, intermission may apply to any temporary cessation: The noise went on without intermission .

Let-up is an informal word and is usually used negatively after no or without. It often indicates abatement rather than cessation, pointing to a lessening of force, a slackening of pace or a reduction in number or intensity.

• The rain poured down without let-up ; We’ve worked two hours without let-up ; There has been no let-up in the stream of complaints.

Lull designates an interval of stillness or calm that contrasts with prior and subsequent noise or confusion: a lull in a storm. Lull may also refer to a falling off of activity, implying a loss of momentum and suggesting the sluggishness of a slack period: a lull in business; a lull in the conversation.

These words refer to the forcible destruction, breaching or injury of something. Break is the most general word. It most often suggests the separation of a rigid body into pieces, implying either partial or total destruction of a whole: breaking the firewood in two for easier burning; breaking a vase by accident. Break may also indicate a temporary injury, as to a bone: breaking a leg in a fall. And it may involve getting free from some restraint or enclosure: to break out of goal; buds breaking open. Burst is close to break in this latter sense but involves much greater violence. It is highly specific word, suggesting a forceful breaking open that is due to internal pressure: squeezing a pimple until it bursts open; a dam so weakened by floods that it finally burst ; blowing up a balloon until it bursts .

Crack usually means to break without separation of parts. It suggests the breaking out across a surface of slit-like openings or hairline ruptures, either because of wear, age or pressure: a window that he cracked by leaning against it; a cracked cup; linoleum that had faded and cracked . In other uses, crack may mean to break apart or break into pieces: Cracking open the walnut without breaking the kernel. Fracture can suggest a deeper, more thorough, but also more localized breaking than crack : fracturing the bone in two places; boulders fractured by continual freezing and thawing; old habit patterns fractured by changing technology.

Shatter and shiver most often suggest a total breaking up of a thin surface. Shatter is the more general of the two, implying the breaking of such a surface into sharp pieces or jagged fragments: heavy enough to shatter the melting ice; a well-aimed stone that shattered the already cracked window. The word can, however, refer to the breaking of any brittle object, in which case, it suggests reduction to many fairly small pieces: a marble statue that had been completely shattered in the earthquake. Shiver , by contrast, is more closely restricted to glass or glass-like surfaces, suggesting a reduction into long, narrow shards or slivers : shivering the mirror. The word might now seem outdated except as a noun.

Crush and smash suggest forceful action taken to destroy or break something. Crush points to the effect of great external pressure: it suggests squeezing something out of shape: crushing the empty cigarette packed in one hand; eggs that had been crushed by tinned goods placed on top of them in the carton. Smash describes the kind of complete deformation resulting from a heavy, noisy blow. This word suggests the shattering of something brittle either by throwing it or by throwing something against it: smashing the window with his bare fist: He smashed the bottle to smithereens against the rocks.