break down

/breɪk daʊn/

/breɪk daʊn/
IPA guide

Other forms: broke down; broken down; breaking down; breaks down

Definitions of break down
  1. verb
    stop operating or functioning
    synonyms: break, conk out, die, fail, give out, give way, go, go bad
    break
    render inoperable or ineffective
    buy the farm, cash in one's chips, choke, conk, croak, decease, die, drop dead, exit, expire, give-up the ghost, go, kick the bucket, pass, pass away, perish, pop off, snuff it
    pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
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    types:
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    crash, go down
    stop operating
    blow, blow out, burn out
    melt, break, or become otherwise unusable
    misfire
    fail to fire or detonate
    glitch, malfunction, misfunction
    fail to function or function improperly
    jam
    get stuck and immobilized
    type of:
    change
    undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
  2. verb
    fall apart
    “Negotiations broke down”
    synonyms: collapse, crumble, crumple, tumble
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    type of:
    change integrity
    change in physical make-up
  3. verb
    collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack
    synonyms: collapse
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    types:
    drop like flies
    rapidly collapse, die, or drop out in large numbers
    fall over, go over
    fall forward and down
    type of:
    get, have, suffer, sustain
    undergo (as of injuries and illnesses)
  4. verb
    cause to fall or collapse
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    type of:
    break, bust
    ruin completely
  5. verb
    make ineffective
    synonyms: crush
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    type of:
    alter, change, modify
    cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
  6. verb
    lose control of one's emotions
    synonyms: lose it, snap
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    types:
    dissolve
    lose control emotionally
    die
    be brought to or as if to the point of death by an intense emotion such as embarrassment, amusement, or shame
    fall apart, go to pieces
    lose one's emotional or mental composure
    type of:
    act, behave, do
    behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself
  7. verb
    make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features
    synonyms: analyse, analyze, dissect, take apart
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    antonyms:
    synthesise, synthesize
    combine so as to form a more complex product
    types:
    parse
    analyze syntactically by assigning a constituent structure to (a sentence)
    botanise, botanize
    collect and study plants
  8. verb
    separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts
    synonyms: break up, decompose, degrade
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    types:
    digest
    soften or disintegrate by means of chemical action, heat, or moisture
    dissociate
    to undergo a reversible or temporary breakdown of a molecule into simpler molecules or atoms
    crack
    reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking
    type of:
    separate
    divide into components or constituents
Pronunciation
US

/breɪk daʊn/
UK

/breɪk daʊn/
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