 break_down |
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| 1. | [ verb ] make ineffective | |
| Synonyms: | crush | |
| Examples: | "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination" |
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| Related terms: | change dislocation | |
| 2. | [ verb ] make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features | |
| Synonyms: | analyze take_apart dissect analyse | |
| Examples: | "analyze a specimen" "analyze a sentence" "analyze a chemical compound" |
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| Related terms: | synthesize parse botanize analyst analyzer dissection dissection | |
| 3. | [ verb ] separate into constituent elements or parts, as of chemical substances | |
| Synonyms: | decompose break_up | |
| Related terms: | separate dissociate digest crack chemistry | |
| 4. | [ verb ] stop operating or functioning | |
| Synonyms: | fail break die go_bad conk_out give_out go give_way | |
| Examples: | "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" |
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| Related terms: | change blow_out misfire crash malfunction die break failure | |
| 5. | [ verb ] lose control of one's emotions | |
| Synonyms: | snap lose_it | |
| Examples: | "When she heard that she had not passed the exam, she lost it completely" "When her baby died, she snapped" |
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| Related terms: | act die fall_apart dissolve breakdown | |
| 6. | [ verb ] fall apart | |
| Synonyms: | crumble crumple tumble collapse | |
| Examples: | "the building crumbled after the explosion" "Negociations broke down" |
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| Related terms: | change_integrity | |
| 7. | [ verb ] cause to fall or collapse | |
| Related terms: | break crumble | |
| 8. | [ verb ] (medicine) collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack | |
| Synonyms: | collapse | |
| Related terms: | suffer fall_over collapse | |
| Similar spelling: |
breakdown Bragdon brush_down break_dance breakstone break_dancing breakout brick_trowel break_through break_out break_with brake_drum brake_disk |
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