BREAK DOWN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does break down mean? 

• BREAK DOWN (verb)
  The verb BREAK DOWN has 8 senses:

1. make ineffective

2. make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features

3. lose control of one's emotions

4. stop operating or functioning

5. fall apart

6. cause to fall or collapse

7. separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts

8. collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack

  Familiarity information: BREAK DOWN used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BREAK DOWN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make ineffective

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

break down; crush

Context example:

Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination

Hypernyms (to "break down" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

breakdown (the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

analyse; analyze; break down; dissect; take apart

Context example:

analyze a chemical compound

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break down"):

parse (analyze syntactically by assigning a constituent structure to (a sentence))

botanise; botanize (collect and study plants)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

breakdown (an analysis into mutually exclusive categories)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lose control of one's emotions

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

break down; lose it; snap

Context example:

When her baby died, she snapped

Hypernyms (to "break down" is one way to...):

act; behave; do (behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break down"):

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)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue break down

Derivation:

breakdown (a mental or physical breakdown)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Stop operating or functioning

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

break; break down; conk out; die; fail; give out; give way; go; go bad

Context example:

her eyesight went after the accident

Hypernyms (to "break down" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

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)

break (render inoperable or ineffective)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break down"):

crash; go down (stop operating)

blow; blow out; burn out (melt, break, or become otherwise unusable)

misfire (fail to fire or detonate)

malfunction; misfunction (fail to function or function improperly)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

These cars won't break down

Derivation:

breakdown (a cessation of normal operation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fall apart

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

break down; collapse; crumble; crumple; tumble

Context example:

Negotiations broke down

Hypernyms (to "break down" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 6

Meaning:

Cause to fall or collapse

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "break down" is one way to...):

break; bust (ruin completely)

Cause:

break down; collapse; crumble; crumple; tumble (fall apart)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They want to break down the doors

Sense 7

Meaning:

Separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

break down; break up; decompose

Hypernyms (to "break down" is one way to...):

separate (divide into components or constituents)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break down"):

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)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

breakdown ((biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

break down; collapse

Hypernyms (to "break down" is one way to...):

get; have; suffer; sustain (undergo (as of injuries and illnesses))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "break down"):

drop like flies (rapidly collapse, die, or drop out in large numbers)

fall over; go over (fall forward and down)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue break down

Derivation:

breakdown (a mental or physical breakdown)

 Context examples 

A form of herpetic keratitis characterized by the formation of small vesicles which break down and coalesce to form recurring dendritic ulcers, characteristically irregular, linear, branching, and ending in knoblike extremities.

(Dendritic Keratitis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

In addition, as an inhibitor of enkephalinase, which metabolizes endorphins, D-phenylalanine may be used to treat chronic pain through blocking the break down of endorphins (natural pain killers).

(D-Phenylalanine, NCI Thesaurus)

Caspases cleave nuclear lamins, causing the nucleus to break down and lose its normal structure.

(Fas Signaling Pathway BioCarta, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

In G6PD deficiency, the red blood cells break down when the body is exposed to infection, severe stress, or certain drugs, chemicals, or foods.

(G6PD Deficiency, NCI Dictionary)

They move molecules from one place to another, build structures, break down toxins, and do many other maintenance jobs.

(Genetic Disorders, NIH: National Library of Medicine)

Crestor blocks an enzyme that helps make cholesterol in the body and it helps break down cholesterol.

(Crestor, NCI Dictionary)

Biotin helps some enzymes break down substances in the body for energy and helps tissues develop.

(Biotin, NCI Dictionary)

Bacteria capable of making enzymes that break down β-lactams soon emerged.

(Antibiotic Combinations May Combat MRSA Infections, NIH)

Scientists have clarified how the Warburg effect, a phenomenon in which cancer cells rapidly break down sugars, stimulates tumor growth.

(Scientists Reveal The Relationship Between Sugar, Cancer, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A new study sheds light on how human gut microbes break down processed foods, especially potentially harmful chemical changes often produced during modern food manufacturing processes.

(Human Gut Microbe Could Make Processed Foods Healthier, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)