break the mold

English

two halves of a mold next to the products of the molding process

Alternative forms

• break the mould

Etymology

From the use of molds to make multiple replicas of solid objects using moldable materials.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

break the mold (third-person singular simple present breaks the mold, present participle breaking the mold, simple past broke the mold, past participle broken the mold)

1. (figurative) To depart from a traditional pattern; to defy convention.
   • 1953, A. B. Guthrie Jr., Jack Sher, Shane, spoken by Shane (Alan Ladd):

     A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can't break the mould. I tried it and it didn't work for me.

   • 1997, Theodore R. Sizer, Horace's School: Redesigning the American High School, page 12:

     President Bush joined in; his 1991 education message called for new kinds of schools, ones that "broke the mold".

   • 2021 November 26, Oscar Lopez, “‘Today’s Outfit Is Confidence’: Atypical TikTok Star Enchants Mexico”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Middle-aged and scarred, a Mexican journalist is breaking the mold of social media influencers with a message of pure positivity that resonates in dark times.

2. To make it impossible for an identical copy to be made.
   • 2001, Adam Troy Castro, Spider-Man: Revenge of the Sinister Six:

     When they made him, they broke the mold. lt was a cliche that had been spoken about any number of men, for any number of different reasons.

Translations

to depart from tradition

• German: aus dem Rahmen fallen (de)
• Spanish: romper el molde, romper esquemas