Overview of verb break-down

The verb break down has 8 senses

• break down, crush -- (make ineffective; "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination")


• analyze, analyse, break down, dissect, take apart -- (make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features; "analyze a specimen"; "analyze a sentence"; "analyze a chemical compound")


• break down, lose it, snap -- (lose control of one's emotions; "When she heard that she had not passed the exam, she lost it completely"; "When her baby died, she snapped")


• fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down -- (stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident")


• crumble, crumple, tumble, break down, collapse -- (fall apart; "the building crumbled after the explosion"; "Negotiations broke down")


• break down -- (cause to fall or collapse)


• decompose, break up, break down -- (separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts)


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

Overview of adj broken-down

The adj broken-down has 2 senses

• bedraggled, broken-down, derelict, dilapidated, ramshackle, tatterdemalion, tumble-down -- (in deplorable condition; "a street of bedraggled tenements"; "a broken-down fence"; "a ramshackle old pier"; "a tumble-down shack")


• broken-down -- (not in working order; "had to push the broken-down car"; "a broken-down tractor fit only for children to play on")