honor in the breach
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English
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Verb
honor in the breach (third-person singular simple present honors in the breach, present participle honoring in the breach, simple past and past participle honored in the breach)
- (transitive, idiomatic, American spelling) To demonstrate (a rule, law, or policy) by breaking or breaching it.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
- Hamlet: Ay, marry, is't:
But to my mind, though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honour'd in the breach than the observance.
- 2014 February 21, “Not poles apart”, in The Economist[1]:
- Many religious precepts are honoured in the breach.