Breaking

Breaking is a term referring to advancing to (or in) outrounds at a tournament. For example, if someone says that the Team Policy team of Paul/Rogers "broke" to outrounds, they mean that they advanced to outrounds from the preliminary rounds. Likewise, someone might "break" to quarterfinals from octofinals.

The origin of the term is unclear, and often causes confusion to people unfamiliar with tournament terminology. The word "clearing" may also be used for the same purpose, but more rarely.