break down

Formsbreaks down, breaking down, broke down, broken down

1. 1
   stop workingphrasal verbintransitive

   To stop working, as a machine, vehicle, or computer does.

   The bus broke down halfway up the mountain road, and we waited two hours for a replacement.

   Older laptops tend to break down when they overheat.

   Similarmalfunction, fail

   Note

   This is the everyday sense for cars, machines and computers, and it takes no object: the car breaks down, rather than anyone breaking it down. The past is broke down; after have, the standard form is broken down, as in the van has broken down twice this month, while has broke down is informal.

2. 2
   phrasal verbfigurativelytransitive or intransitive

   To collapse physically or mentally under stress, or to make a person collapse that way.

   She broke down at the funeral and had to leave the room.

   Hours of hostile questioning failed to break down the witness.

   Similarcrack, collapse

   Note

   The verb works in both directions: a person breaks down, or hostile questioning breaks a witness down. Said of a person alone, it means losing control under strain, as when Ben Travers's Sophia "broke down here" in A Cuckoo in the Nest (1922). The participle serves as an adjective too: F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in 1936 that Ernest was "quite as nervously broken down" as he was.

3. 3
   give detailsphrasal verbfigurativelytransitive or intransitive

   To divide something into its parts in order to give more detail or a closer analysis.

   Ask the accountant to break down the expenses by department before the meeting.

   The project's total cost breaks down into labor, materials, and permits.

   Similaritemize, analyze, divide, split

   Note

   Numbers are its usual material: you ask someone to break down the figures for you. The figures themselves can also be the subject, often with into or as follows: the budget breaks down into three headings, the costs break down as follows. It sits close to analyze, but keeps the picture of splitting a whole into its pieces.

4. 4
   relations failphrasal verbintransitive

   To fail, especially in social relationships or for political reasons.

   Negotiations between the union and management broke down over pension benefits.

   Trust between neighbors can break down quickly once a dispute goes to court.

   Similarcollapse, fail, founder

   Oppositesucceed

   Note

   Its natural subjects are talks, negotiations and relations, and the parties usually follow with between: talks broke down between the prime minister and the opposition; relations broke down between Greece and Turkey. Nothing physical gives way here, only a process between people that stops working, so the verb takes no object in this sense.

5. 5
   rotphrasal verbtransitive or intransitive

   To decay or decompose, or to cause something to decay or decompose.

   Most plastics take a very long time to break down in a landfill.

   Fungi and bacteria gradually break down fallen logs on the forest floor.

   Similardecompose, decay, degrade, rot

6. 6
   knock downphrasal verbtransitive

   To demolish or pull down something on purpose.

   Police officers broke down the door of the apartment after no one answered.

   The new owners plan to break down the crumbling garden wall and put in a patio.

   Similardemolish, smash

   Oppositebuild

7. 7
   take apartphrasal verbtransitive

   To separate something, or become separated, into a number of parts.

   Warehouse staff break down each incoming pallet into single boxes for local delivery.

   After the festival, the crew broke down the stage in under three hours.

   Similardismantle, disassemble, split, separate

   Oppositeassemble

   Note

   Freight handling gives it a practical home: loads made up elsewhere are broken down at a depot and sent on, as N. H. Bousfield described at Angers in Railway Magazine in 1950. The parts usually follow into, as when a group of twelve decided to break down into two subgroups. Break up and take apart are close, but break down suggests sorting rather than damage.

8. 8
   physical collapsephrasal verbintransitive

   To collapse without warning, either physically or in structure.

   The favorite broke down on the final turn and was pulled up by her jockey.

   Engineers warned that the aging seawall could break down in the next major storm.

   Similarcollapse, fail, crumble

9. 9
   weakenphrasal verbfigurativelytransitive or intransitive

   To become weak and ineffective, or to make someone or something weak and ineffective.

   The visitors spent ninety minutes trying to break down a stubborn, well-drilled defense.

   The general's authority broke down as his officers began ignoring his orders.

   Similarweaken, crumble, collapse, breach

   Note

   Sports writing has a favorite use: a team that is tough to break down defends so well that attackers cannot get through, as Phil McNulty said of England for BBC Sport in 2012. Away from sport the change is usually gradual and the verb intransitive, with authority or influence as its subject: his authority broke down gradually.

10. 10
    give inphrasal verbidiomaticintransitive

    To stop resisting and give in or give up, finally conceding or surrendering.

    After months of squinting at menus, he finally broke down and admitted he needed glasses.

    Many parents eventually break down and let their kids stay up late on weekends.

    Similarrelent, cave, yield, capitulate

    Note

    It usually comes with and plus a second verb naming what was resisted and is finally done: break down and buy a new one, break down and admit it. The phrase carries a shrug of reluctance. Unlike the collapse under stress, nobody is overwhelmed here; they have simply stopped holding out.

11. 11
    digestphrasal verbtransitive or intransitive

    To digest food, or to be digested in the body.

    Enzymes in saliva begin to break down starch before food even reaches the stomach.

    A heavy, fatty meal breaks down slowly, which is why it can leave you feeling full for hours.

    Similardigest

12. 12
    noun · break-down

    Alternative form of breakdown.

    After the break-down of the peace talks, both delegations flew home.

    The report includes a full break-down of spending by department.

    Note

    The hyphenated spelling carries every meaning of breakdown, from a failed engine to a detailed list of costs, and makes its plural break-downs. It is not new: Robert Browning wrote of "the break-down of my general aims" in Paracelsus (1835).

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