break

Exit from a for, while, until, or select loop

SYNTAX
      break [n]

If n is supplied, the nth enclosing loop is exited. n must be greater than or equal to 1.

The return status is zero unless n is not greater than or equal to 1.

Example

for myloop in 1 2 3 4 5 
do 
  echo -n "$myloop"
  if [ "$myloop" -eq 3 ] 
   then 
   break # This line will break out of the loop
  fi
done

break is a POSIX `special' builtin

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." - Charles Schultz

Related commands:

for - Expand words, and execute commands
select - Accept keyboard input
until - Execute commands (until error)
while - Execute commands
continue - Resume the next iteration of a loop

Equivalent Windows NT command:

GOTO - Direct a batch program to jump to a labelled line