singlebreak

Singlebreak, often written as singlebreak, is a term used in typography and digital text rendering to describe a single line break inserted within a block of text, as opposed to a paragraph break that creates extra vertical space.

In plain text and many markup systems, a single line break is produced by a single newline character. However, rendering of such breaks varies: in HTML, whitespace is collapsed and a newline in source generally does not create a visible break unless a line-breaking element is used; to guarantee a single line break, the br element is used, or CSS whitespace handling like pre or pre-line.

The distinction between single breaks and paragraph breaks has historical roots in typewriters and early word processors; modern editors often distinguish hard returns (paragraph breaks) from soft returns (line breaks). In markup languages and typesetting, operators exist to force line breaks without starting a new paragraph.

Common uses include preserving line structure in poetry, addresses, or quoted text within a larger paragraph, and in user interfaces where vertical space must be preserved while preserving content flow. The behavior of single breaks may vary across platforms, so consistent rendering often requires explicit markup or style rules.