break the fourth wall
English
Etymology
break + the + fourth wall
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
break the fourth wall (third-person singular simple present breaks the fourth wall, present participle breaking the fourth wall, simple past broke the fourth wall, past participle broken the fourth wall)
- (idiomatic, fiction) To apparently communicate with reality directly, such as when characters of literature comment on the existence of a reader.