positions:

Break _to_ pieces, or _in_ pieces, _into_ several pieces (when the
object is thought of as divided rather than shattered); break _with_ a
friend; _from_ or _away from_ a suppliant; break _into_ a house; _out
of_ prison; break _across_ one's knee; break _through_ a hedge; break
_in upon_ one's retirement; break _over_ the rules; break _on_ or _upon_
the shore, _against_ the rocks.

* * * * *

BRUTISH.

Synonyms:

animal, brutal, ignorant, sensual, swinish,
base, brute, imbruted, sottish, unintellectual,
beastly, carnal, insensible, stolid, unspiritual,
bestial, coarse, lascivious, stupid, vile.

A _brutish_ man simply follows his _animal_ instincts, without special
inclination to do harm; the _brutal_ have always a spirit of malice and
cruelty. _Brute_ has no special character, except as indicating what a
brute might possess; much the same is true of _animal_, except that
_animal_ leans more to the side of sensuality, _brute_ to that of force,
as appears in the familiar phrase "_brute_ force." Hunger is an _animal_
appetite; a _brute_ impulse suddenly prompts one to strike a blow in
anger. _Bestial_, in modern usage, implies an intensified and degrading
animalism. Any supremacy of the _animal_ or _brute_ instincts over the
intellectual and spiritual in man is _base_ and _vile_. _Beastly_ refers
largely to the outward and visible consequences of excess; as, _beastly_
drunkenness. Compare ANIMAL.

Antonyms:

elevated, exalted, great, intellectual, noble,
enlightened, grand, humane, intelligent, refined.

* * * * *

BURN.

Synonyms:

blaze, char, flame, incinerate, set fire to,
brand, consume, flash, kindle, set on fire,
cauterize, cremate, ignite, scorch, singe.

To _burn_ is to subject to the action of fire, or of intense heat so as
to effect either partial change or complete combustion; as, to _burn_
wood in the fire; to _burn_ one's hand on a hot stove; the sun _burns_
the face. One _brands_ with a hot iron, but _cauterizes_ with some
corrosive substance, as silver nitrate. _Cremate_ is now used
specifically for _consuming_ a dead body by intense heat. To
_incinerate_ is to reduce to ashes; the sense differs little from that
of _cremate_, but it is in less popular use. To _kindle_ is to _set on
fire_, as if with a candle; _ignite_ is the mo