break down

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See also: breakdown

English

Verb

break down (third-person singular simple present breaks down, present participle breaking down, simple past broke down, past participle broken down or (informal) broke down)

  1. (intransitive) To stop functioning. (machine, computer, vehicle)
    I am afraid my computer will break down if I try to run it at too high a speed.
  2. (intransitive) To collapse, physically or in structure. (unexpectedly)
  3. (transitive) To demolish, to pull down. (intentionally)
  4. (intransitive) To cease to function. (others)
  5. (intransitive) To fail, especially socially or for political reasons.
    Talks broke down between Prime Minister John Doe and the opposition party.
    Relations broke down between Greece and Turkey.
  6. (intransitive, idiomatic) To give in, relent, concede, or surrender.
    Is it worth taking it to a repair shop, or should I just break down and buy a new one?
  7. (ergative, figuratively) To render or to become unstable due to stress, to collapse physically or mentally.
    She is back to work now, after she broke down the other day.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, A Cuckoo in the Nest, chapter 6:
      Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.
    • 1936 Sept. 15, F. Scott Fitzgerald, letter to Beatrice Dance:
      As to Ernest... He is quite as nervously broken down as I am but it manifests itself in different ways. His inclination is towards megalomania and mine towards melancholy.
  8. (ergative, figuratively) To render or to become weak and ineffective.
    His authority and influence over his coordinates broke down gradually.
    • 2012 June 2, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Belgium”, in BBC Sport:
      Hodgson's approach may not illuminate proceedings in Poland and Ukraine but early evidence suggests they will be tough to break down.
  9. (ergative) To (cause to) decay, to decompose.
    Leaves and grass will break down into compost faster if you keep them moist.
  10. To separate into a number of parts.
    • 1950 June, N. H. Bousfield, “Angers, a French Provincial Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 371:
      The goods station is a transhipment centre (centre de transbordement) at which loads made up at other centres are broken down and redespatched to destinations in the area.
  11. (ergative, figuratively) To divide into parts to give more details, to provide a more indepth analysis of.
    If you don't understand, ask him to break down the numbers for you.
  12. (ergative) To digest.
    His stomach took a while to break down his food.

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Noun

break down (plural break downs)

  1. Misspelling of breakdown.

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