Bboy Dictionary: Breaking Glossary
A living glossary of Bboy and Bgirl language, movement, battle culture, and history.
This working glossary is specifically about Breaking—not general Hip Hop slang. Breaking vocabulary changes by city, generation, crew, and teacher, so alternate names and interpretations are part of the history. Bboy Academy will continue correcting, expanding, and documenting these terms.
Jump to: A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z
A
Airbaby
A one-arm freeze in which the supporting knee rests on or near the supporting elbow while the other leg extends for balance and line.
History & usage: The name describes the compact, suspended shape; exact forms and naming vary across scenes.
Airchair
An elevated chair-style freeze supported by one stabbed arm, with the body lifted and the hips opened away from the floor.
History & usage: Some pioneers and regions used other names for the shape; breaking terminology has never been completely standardized.
Breaking terminology history ↗
Airflare
A traveling power move in which the body circles overhead from hand to hand without the torso settling on the floor.
History & usage: It developed from flare and handstand-based power-move vocabulary.
B
Backrock
Floor-level rocking performed across the back, hips, or shoulders, often used to connect footwork, freezes, and power.
Backspin
A rotation on the back, driven by leg and hip momentum, that can stand alone or connect into power moves.
History & usage: Backspin mechanics helped form the foundation of later continuous rotational moves.
Biter
A breaker who copies another person’s moves, combinations, or style without acknowledgment or transformation.
History & usage: Calling someone a biter is a serious battle accusation tied to breaking’s emphasis on originality.
Blowup
A sudden, high-impact move or sequence designed to create a strong crowd, opponent, or judge reaction.
History & usage: The term describes the explosive response a breaker is trying to produce.
Burn
A movement, gesture, expression, or sequence used to mock, challenge, or decisively outdo an opponent in battle.
History & usage: Burns are deeply connected to battle communication and toprock or uprock vocabulary.
C
CeeCee aka Crazy Commando
A foundational floorwork action that extends or switches a leg while the hips rotate kicking the leg out and the body’s support shifts from side to side between hands and feet. Originally called Crazy Commanders, later Crazy Commandos, later Cee Cee’s, or CC’s.
History & usage: Regional names include switches, Salsoul shuffles, and kick-outs; there is no single universally accepted naming system.
Breaking terminology history ↗
Chair Freeze
A freeze using a bent, stabbed arm against the torso or side to support the body in a chair-like position.
Crash
An unintended fall, loss of balance, or breakdown in the clean execution of a move or set.
History & usage: A crash is accidental; a suicide is an intentional theatrical drop.
D
Downrock
The family of floor-level dance performed below standing level, including footwork, backrock, transitions, and related movement.
History & usage: Downrock is broader than one pattern such as the six-step.
Drop
A transition from standing or toprock down to the floor, ideally timed and shaped as part of the dance.
History & usage: Drops are part of the larger category often called go-downs.
E
Elbow Airflare
An airflare variation that transfers the body through the forearms or elbows instead of relying only on the hands.
Elbow Freeze
A held balance supported on one or both forearms or elbows, with the legs arranged to create a clear shape.
F
Flavor
The personal rhythm, texture, attitude, and character that make a breaker’s execution recognizably their own.
History & usage: Flavor is not a single move; it is the lived quality a dancer brings to movement.
Flare
A circular power move in which wide, extended legs travel around the body while the hands support and transfer the weight.
History & usage: Breaking’s flare shares movement ancestry with the gymnastics pommel-horse flare, then developed its own entrances, exits, and combinations.
Footwork
Rhythmic floor-level steps and leg patterns, usually supported and redirected by the hands.
History & usage: Footwork is one of breaking’s core expressive areas and includes far more than numbered steps.
Freeze
A controlled held position used to punctuate the music, finish a phrase, answer an opponent, or display balance and form.
History & usage: The musical placement and shape matter as much as simply holding still.
G
Go-down
Any deliberate transition that takes the breaker from upright dancing into floorwork, a freeze, or power.
History & usage: The term treats the transition itself as dance rather than empty travel between levels.
H
Halo
A rotational power move traveling around the head and upper shoulders while the legs circle overhead.
History & usage: Halos connect movement ideas found in windmills and headspins.
Handglide
A one-arm stabbed float or spin in which the body extends from a supporting hand and the free hand may help initiate rotation.
History & usage: It belongs to the family of floats built from stab-supported positions.
Headspin
A power move that rotates on the head, often using the hands to begin, balance, accelerate, or control the spin.
Hollowback
An arched inverted freeze or handstand shape in which the chest opens and the legs travel behind the head line.
I
Indian Step
A classic toprock pattern built from crossing, opening, and redirecting the feet with coordinated arm movement and groove.
History & usage: The name is widely used but not universal; the user may choose to retain, contextualize, or revise the label.
J
Jackhammer
A one-arm float in which the body repeatedly hops on the stabbed supporting arm while maintaining a horizontal shape.
History & usage: It is related to the cricket and turtle family but concentrates the hop on one arm.
K
Kick-out
A foundational floorwork action that shoots a leg outward while the breaker shifts support and redirects the hips.
History & usage: In some regions, kick-out overlaps with names such as CC or switch, showing how local terminology differs.
Breaking terminology history ↗
L
L-kick
A one-hand kick or freeze in which the legs and torso create a sharp, open L-like line.
History & usage: It is sometimes grouped with Nike-style kick freezes.
M
Munchmill
A compact windmill variation performed with bent or tucked legs, creating a smaller and faster rotational shape.
History & usage: It is also associated with the name babymill in some communities.
N
Nike Freeze
A one-hand kick-freeze shape whose curved body and leg line resemble the Nike swoosh.
History & usage: The name is a visual nickname rather than a claim of connection to the company.
O
Outlaw Step
A toprock step using crossing, opening, and directional changes to project stance, rhythm, and character.
History & usage: Outlaw is a named step within a wider toprock vocabulary; execution and naming can vary by lineage.
P
Pretzel
A compact footwork or threading position in which the limbs fold and pass through woven shapes.
History & usage: It is also written or pronounced Bretzel in some breaking communities.
R
Rollback
A transition that rolls backward across the back or shoulders to enter or exit footwork, power, or a freeze.
Russian Step
A low, squat-based footwork pattern using alternating kicks and weight changes.
History & usage: The breaking name points to its resemblance to Eastern European folk-dance steps; exact pathways into individual scenes vary.
S
Set
A breaker’s complete individual round or throw-down: the full sequence presented from entrance through finish.
History & usage: A set may be improvised, prepared, or a mixture of both.
Six-step
A foundational six-count circular footwork pattern that travels the legs around the body’s hand-supported center.
History & usage: It is a teaching foundation, not a rule that all footwork must follow.
Stacks
A sequence that links two or more freezes in succession, changing shape while maintaining control.
Stylehead
A breaker especially focused on originality, musicality, character, footwork, and movement quality rather than primarily on power.
History & usage: The label describes an emphasis, not a rigid category; many breakers combine style and power.
Suicide
An intentional theatrical fall or drop designed to look dangerous while using practiced control and timing.
History & usage: Unlike a crash, a suicide is deliberate and commonly used to punctuate a beat or finish.
Sweep (Coffee Mill / Coffee Grinder / Helicopter)
A foundational floorwork move in which one extended leg circles low around the body while the hands and supporting foot lift or step over the sweeping leg.
History & usage: Names vary by teacher and region. FraGue lists Sweep as the main name and records Coffee Mill, Coffee Grinder, and Helicopter as alternate names, attributing his source for the term to Bboy Alien Ness. This documents a teaching lineage, not a settled claim about who invented the move.
Swipe
A rotational power move in which the upper and lower body twist around as the hands and feet exchange support.
History & usage: Swipe variations may use one or two legs and connect into other power moves.
T
Threading
Creating a loop with an arm or leg and passing another limb, or part of the body, through that opening.
History & usage: Threading can function inside footwork, freezes, transitions, and combinations.
Freeze and threading reference ↗
Three-step
A compact three-count footwork pattern that travels around the body’s center and can be varied in direction and rhythm.
Toprock
The upright dance performed before, between, or after floor movement, used to establish rhythm, character, approach, and battle presence.
History & usage: Toprock is dancing, not merely a waiting area before power moves.
Turtle
A stabbed float or freeze in which the elbows support the torso near the abdomen or hips while the body is held roughly horizontal.
History & usage: The position can be held, rotated, or used as the base of traveling float variations.
U
Uprock
A battle-oriented dance form, also called Rocking or Brooklyn Rock, built from rhythmic steps, feints, gestures, and burns.
History & usage: Uprock has its own history and is not simply another word for toprock, though breaking adopted parts of its battle vocabulary.
V
Valdez
An acrobatic transition from a seated or low position through an arched, one-arm back-handspring or bridge-like pathway.
History & usage: The term also appears in gymnastics and acrobatics; breakers adapted the action into transitions and combinations.
W
Windmill
A continuous rotational power move traveling across the shoulders and upper back while the legs remain extended in a wide circular path.
History & usage: Early dancers also used descriptions such as continuous backspin, illustrating how names changed as the form developed.
Breaking terminology history ↗
X
X-step
A toprock or cross-step variation that creates crossing, X-like foot positions while changing direction and groove.
History & usage: This label is regional rather than universal and may overlap with cross-step terminology.
Y
Y-freeze
An inverted freeze in which the supporting arm, torso, and separated legs create a strong Y-like silhouette.
Z
Zulu Spin
A circular floorwork move, also called Around the World in some sources, in which the breaker rotates low through sweeping and stepping leg paths.
History & usage: The name is historically used within breaking, but regional vocabulary and accounts of origin differ.
Help Bboy Academy document the language
This page is a starting point, not the final word. Bboy Academy will add original terminology, firsthand history, regional names, corrections, archival material, and contributions from the people who lived the culture.
Editorial note: External links are provided for further learning. A link does not mean Bboy Academy endorses every statement on the linked page.
