break down

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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, of a machine, computer, vehicle, etc.) To stop functioning.

   I am afraid my computer will break down if I try to run it at too high a speed.

2. (intransitive) To unexpectedly collapse, physically or in structure.

   Coordinate terms: break apart, break up, fall apart, fall down

3. (transitive) To intentionally demolish; to pull down.

   Coordinate terms: break apart, break up, tear down

4. (intransitive) To fail, especially socially or for political reasons.

   Coordinate terms: break apart, break up

   Talks broke down between Prime Minister John Doe and the opposition party.

   Relations broke down between Greece and Turkey.

5. (intransitive, idiomatic) To give in or give up: relent, concede, surrender.

   Is it worth taking it to a repair shop, or should I just break down and buy a new one?

6. (ergative, figuratively) To render or to become unstable due to stress, to collapse physically or mentally.

   Near-synonym: come undone

   She is back to work now, after she broke down the other day.

   • 1921, Ben Travers, A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     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.

7. (ergative, figuratively) To render or to become weak and ineffective.

   Coordinate terms: wear away, wear down

   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.

8. (ergative) To (cause to) decay, to decompose.

   Leaves and grass will break down into compost faster if you keep them moist.

9. To separate into a number of parts.

   Near-synonyms: break apart, break up, tear down, tear up

   • 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.

   • 1973 December 29, “Lesbian Questionnaire”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 28, page 1:

     Meetings began in June and shortly after the group of twelve women decided to break-down into two sub groups in order to examine the subject more efficiently.

10. (ergative, figuratively) To divide into parts to give more details, to provide a more indepth analysis of.

    Near-synonym: analyze

    If you don't understand, ask him to break down the numbers for you.

11. (ergative) To digest.

    Near-synonym: catabolize

    His stomach took a while to break down his food.

• break it down

break down (plural break downs)

1. Misspelling of breakdown.

• melt down