Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a dance style perfected in New York’s South Bronx, in which dancers spin, whirl and twist, pivoting on heads, elbows, knees etc, performed to hip-hop or rap music; thus backform. breaker, one who performs the style, break v., to perform this dance style.

[1943		C. Thompson These My People 31: The music has changed from the jazz songs of America to the ‘brukkins’ of Jamaica].
1981		(ref. to 1978) Village Voice (N.Y.) 22 Apr. 31: Spy, he’s called the man with a thousand moves, [...] in ’78—he was breaking at Mom and Pop’s on Katona Avenue in the Bronx.
1998		C. Shadlock 🌐 Electric Boogie is linked as a part of ‘Breakdancing’, which includes ‘Breaking’ and ‘Uprock’. ‘Breaking’ is an acrobatic dance style performed with moves like ‘Backspins’, ‘Headspins’ and ‘The Windmill’.
2008		‘Grandmaster Flash’ Adventures 37: ‘Popping, locking, b-boying, and baby-rocking. This wasn’t the down-on-the-ground windmills and backspins and acrobatic stuff that people imagine when they think about ‘break dancing’ today. Wasn’t called ‘break dancing’ at all. This was breakin’. This was about finding that little piece of the song where [...] you didn’t have nothing but rhythm. And then shaking your ass on it’.
2008		(con. mid-1970s) ‘Grandmaster Flash’ Adventures 43: The dude’s jumpin’ all over the mic, sayin’ we got to ride the break, callin’ us breakers and b-boys.
2008		‘Grandmaster Flash’ Adventures 55: B-boys and girls didn’t want to hear straight four-on-the-floor dance beats and boring rhythms. They wanted music they didn’t recognize but could break on anyway.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1982

G. Tate ‘Beyond the Zone of the Zero Funkativity’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 44: Great if you’re a breaking member of the boogie box brigade.