BREAKDOWN

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does breakdown mean? 

• BREAKDOWN (noun)
  The noun BREAKDOWN has 5 senses:

1. the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue

2. a mental or physical breakdown

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

4. a cessation of normal operation

5. an analysis into mutually exclusive categories

  Familiarity information: BREAKDOWN used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BREAKDOWN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

breakdown; dislocation

Context example:

his warning came after the breakdown of talks in London

Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):

disruption; perturbation (the act of causing disorder)

Derivation:

break down (make ineffective)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A mental or physical breakdown

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

breakdown; crack-up

Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):

collapse; prostration (an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breakdown"):

nervous breakdown (a severe or incapacitating emotional disorder)

Derivation:

break down (collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack)

break down (lose control of one's emotions)

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

breakdown; decomposition; putrefaction; rot; rotting

Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):

decay (the process of gradually becoming inferior)

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Derivation:

break down (separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A cessation of normal operation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

breakdown; equipment failure

Context example:

there was a power breakdown

Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):

failure (an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breakdown"):

brake failure (brakes fail to stop a vehicle)

engine failure (engine does not run)

dud; misfire (an explosion that fails to occur)

outage (a temporary suspension of operation (as of computers))

power failure; power outage (equipment failure resulting when the supply of power fails)

fault ((electronics) equipment failure attributable to some defect in a circuit (loose connection or insulation failure or short circuit etc.))

Derivation:

break down (stop operating or functioning)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An analysis into mutually exclusive categories

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

breakdown; partitioning

Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):

analysis; analytic thinking (the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breakdown"):

resolution; resolving (analysis into clear-cut components)

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

A chronic condition in which both the breakdown and regrowth of bone are increased.

(Bone Paget Disease, NCI Dictionary)

Nitrogen in the blood that comes from urea (a substance formed by the breakdown of protein in the liver).

(Blood Urea, NCI Dictionary)

A substance formed by the breakdown of protein in the liver.

(Carbamide, NCI Dictionary)

Processes concerned with the synthesis, breakdown, and oxidation of carbohydrates in the tissues.

(Carbohydrate Metabolic Process, NCI Thesaurus)

Osteoarthritis results from breakdown of cartilage.

(Cartilage Disorders, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

A finding of leakage of urine due to breakdown of a bladder anastomosis (surgical connection of two separate anatomic structures).

(Bladder Anastomotic Leakage, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

Leakage of urine due to breakdown of a bladder anastomosis.

(Bladder Anastomotic Leakage, NCI Thesaurus)

Upon oral administration of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB), this leucine metabolite may decrease protein breakdown and increase protein synthesis thereby increasing muscle strength and mass.

(Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate Supplement, NCI Thesaurus)

It also causes an increase in the breakdown of cholesterol.

(Atorvastatin, NCI Dictionary)

In the past few years, the breakdown of a long, floating ice tongue has triggered especially dramatic changes in the terminus of Yakutat glacier.

(Retreat of Yakutat Glacier, NASA)