breakdown
pronunciation
How to pronounce breakdown in British English:
UK [ˈbreɪkdaʊn]
How to pronounce breakdown in American English:
US [ˈbreɪkdaʊn]
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- Noun:
- the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue
- a mental or physical breakdown
- a cessation of normal operation
- an analysis into mutually exclusive categories
Word Origin
- breakdown (n.)
- "a collapse," 1832, from break (v.) + down (adv.). The verbal phrase is attested from late 14c. The noun, specifically of machinery, is from 1838; meaning "an analysis in detail" is from 1936. Nervous breakdown is from 1905.
Example
- 1. This is no recent breakdown of family values .
- 2. But in a system-wide breakdown , it also fuelled contagion .
- 3. That breakdown explains why the risks remain so high .
- 4. This indicated that salicylate switches on ampk , increasing the breakdown of fat .
- 5. It follows another major breakdown in december that affected 15 million users and left callers were cut off in mid-conversation .