打破

break/smash a vase

The barking of a dog in the distance broke in on the silence of the night.

The reform is designed, first and foremost, to break with egalitarianism.

upset the status quo

break the balance

break/break through/disintegrate the monopoly (on sth)

smash the old mechanism

break an impasse/a deadlock; bridge/smash a deadlock; overcome an impasse

break/beat/smash a record; shatter the record

break down segregation

break one's silence; break the silence/hush

break conventions; break away/free from conventions; break the routine; go/get out of the ordinary groove

break regional barriers