break down

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. break it down informal.
   1. stop it
   2. don't expect me to believe that; come off it

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

Example Sentences

Now breaking down game film from Michigan games on Sundays, Alford rarely gets to watch his protege for extended periods now.

From Los Angeles Times

But it broke down, in part because city and state officials would not agree to his demands to forcibly clear Skid Row and other encampments.

From Los Angeles Times

That late winner from Andy Robertson had broken down the walls of his stoicism.

From BBC

On “Blueslides,” he was even more candid: “Been a prisoner in my own house, I don’t know if they noticed / I done broke down so many times, next time, it’s gonna catch me.”

From Los Angeles Times

Symptoms happen when those patches break down and bleed but cannot leave your body.

From BBC

Related Words

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