What does the break statement accomplish in a loop?

The break statement in a loop is designed to stop the current iteration prematurely, allowing the program to exit from the loop entirely. This means that when the break statement is executed, control immediately jumps to the first line of code following the loop, effectively terminating the loop's execution at that point. This is particularly useful when a certain condition is met, and further iterations of the loop would be unnecessary or unwanted.

For example, in a scenario where a loop is searching for a specific value, once that value is found, using the break statement can immediately end the loop instead of continuing to check all remaining elements. This not only improves efficiency but also reflects a clear intention in the flow of the program logic.

The other options suggest functionalities that do not accurately represent the role of the break statement. Starting a new iteration or creating nested loops would require different constructs (like continue or for/while loops), and pausing execution is not a feature of break; instead, this would require other mechanisms such as time delays or user input.