break down

British  

verb

1. (intr) to cease to function; become ineffective

   communications had broken down

2. to yield or cause to yield, esp to strong emotion or tears

   she broke down in anguish

3. (tr) to crush or destroy

4. (intr) to have a nervous breakdown

5. to analyse or be subjected to analysis

6. to separate or cause to separate into simpler chemical elements; decompose

7. (tr) to saw (a large log) into planks

8. informal

   1. stop it

   2. don't expect me to believe that; come off it

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noun

1. an act or instance of breaking down; collapse

2. short for nervous breakdown

3. an analysis or classification of something into its component parts

   he prepared a breakdown of the report

4. the sudden electrical discharge through an insulator or between two electrodes in a vacuum or gas discharge tube

5. electrical engineering the sudden transition, dependent on the bias magnitude, from a high to a low dynamic resistance in a semiconductor device

6. a lively American country dance

break down Idioms  

1. Demolish, destroy, either physically or figuratively, as in The carpenters broke down the partition between the bedrooms , or The governor's speeches broke down the teachers' opposition to school reform . [Late 1300s]

2. Separate into constituent parts, analyze. For example, I insisted that they break down the bill into the separate charges for parts and labor , or The chemist was trying to break down the compound's molecules . [Mid-1800s]

3. Stop functioning, cease to be effective or operable, as in The old dishwasher finally broke down . [Mid-1800s]

4. Become distressed or upset; also, have a physical or mental collapse, as in The funeral was too much for her and she broke down in tears , or After seeing all his work come to nothing, he broke down and had to be treated by a psychiatrist . [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

break down

Ramirez knows from experience that if you use a generator, “it will break down at the worst time.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

On ICYMI, host Kate Lindsay and Slate tech editor Tony Ho Tran break down the digital do’s and don’ts for couples, and argue that the thing that ruined dating might actually be making relationships better.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

Anna Price, the community lead at St Mary Magdalene, says its work to build community resilience and break down isolation is hugely important.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Watch an architect break down stadium designs from the 2026 World Cup.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

But then it was José Arcadio Buendía who took the lead and tried to break down the priest's faith with rationalist tricks.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Related Words

• collapse
• crash
• decline
• decrease
• depreciate
• diminish
• dip
• dive
• dwindle
• ease
• go down
• land
• plummet
• plunge
• settle
• sink
• slip
• slump
• stumble
• tumble