TOEIC Link Part 5: breach versus breech

Breach and breech are pronounced exactly the same and look nearly identical, yet they belong to different worlds. Breach (noun/verb) means a break, gap, or violation of a rule, agreement, or defense. Breech (noun) refers to the rear or lower part of something — historically the buttocks, hence breeches (trousers) and the breech of a gun. On a business test, the word you need is almost always breach. Part 5 exploits the identical sound to check whether you read for meaning. For the wider set of look-alike traps, start with the commonly confused word pairs master index.

The core rule: violation versus rear part

• breach (noun or verb) = a break, gap, or violation of an agreement, rule, or barrier. The supplier was in breach of contract. / A data breach exposed customer records. / The clause was breached within a month. It answers what rule or defense was broken? and pairs with contract, security, trust, and duty — breach of contract, security breach, breach of confidentiality.
• breech (noun) = the rear or lower part of something, chiefly clothing or the back of a firearm. The tailor adjusted the breeches. / The breech of the rifle was jammed. It answers which end is the back? and almost never appears in ordinary business writing.

The two do not overlap. Breach is about something being broken or violated. Breech is about a physical rear part. A memory hook: breach contains reach — a breach is a gap you could reach through, like a break in a wall. If the sentence involves contracts, security, or rules, you want breach.

Why Part 5 likes this pair

The pair rewards attention to whether the sentence describes a violation or a physical part, and the surrounding business vocabulary is the reliable tell.

The vendor's failure to deliver on time was a clear __ of the agreement.

A broken agreement points to breach.

Because breech is so rare in professional contexts, Part 5 typically sets breach as the correct answer and offers breech as the identical-sounding distractor — testing whether you were listening to the sound or reading the meaning.

Spotting the clue

Check whether the sentence describes a violation or a physical rear:

• Does the word describe breaking a rule, contract, or defense? → choose breach (breach of contract, breach the firewall, in breach of policy).
• Does the word describe the back or lower part of an object or garment? → choose breech (breech of the gun, a pair of breeches).

A quick test: if you can replace the word with "violation" or "break", it is breach; if you mean "the rear part," it is breech. In business English — contracts, compliance, security — the answer is nearly always breach. For more pairs where a shared sound hides a meaning gap, see the business and finance confusable pairs study guide.

Quick self-check

1. Disclosing the client list was a serious __ of confidentiality. (breach — violation)
2. The engineer inspected the __ of the mechanism where the cartridge loads. (breech — rear part)
3. Late payment put the company in __ of its lease. (breach — violation)

Takeaway

If the sentence describes breaking or violating a contract, rule, or defense, you need breach — the word that hides reach, like a gap in a wall. If it describes the rear or lower part of a garment or a firearm, you need breech, a word you will rarely meet in business writing. Test the word against "violation" versus "the rear part" and the choice resolves itself. To see how this pair fits the wider set of Part 5 sound-alikes, return to the commonly confused word pairs master index.