Break Down (Verb)
Meaning 1
Fall apart; "the building crumbled after the explosion"; "Negotiations broke down".
Classification
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming.
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Meaning 2
Cause to fall or collapse.
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
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Meaning 3
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".
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
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Meaning 4
Collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack.
Classification
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care.
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Meaning 5
Make ineffective; "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination".
Classification
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities.
Examples
- The government's efforts to break down the cartel's operations were met with resistance from powerful business leaders.
- The activist's speech aimed to break down the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
- The new policy was designed to break down barriers to education for underprivileged students.
- The coach's goal was to break down the opposing team's defense and create scoring opportunities.
- The organization worked tirelessly to break down cultural stereotypes and promote understanding between different communities.
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Meaning 6
Separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts.
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
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Meaning 7
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".
Classification
Verbs of feeling.
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Meaning 8
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".
Classification
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting.
Examples
- We need to break down the data to identify the trends and patterns.
- To understand the sentence structure, let's break down the sentence into its constituent clauses.
- The scientist decided to break down the compound into its individual elements to determine its properties.
- By breaking down the mathematical equation, we can simplify it and find the solution.
- To comprehend the complex issue, the team leader suggested breaking down the problem into smaller, manageable parts.