Breakdown | Mean of breakdown in English Dictionary

/ˈbreɪkˌdaʊn/

• Noun
• a failure of a machine to function
1. We had a breakdown on the highway. [=our car broke down on the highway; our car stopped working on the highway]
2. The factory has had frequent equipment breakdowns.
3. Frequent equipment breakdown [=(more commonly) failure] has been a problem at the factory.
• the failure of a relationship or of an effort to discuss something
1. There has been a breakdown of/in negotiations. [=negotiations have broken down; negotiations have failed]
2. Both sides are to blame for the breakdown in communication.
3. The irretrievable breakdown of a marriage can be grounds for divorce.
• a failure that prevents a system from working properly
1. trying to prevent a breakdown of the health-care system
2. trying to prevent breakdown of the health-care system
3. Analysts predict that the country is headed for economic breakdown. [=meltdown]

• a sudden failure of mental or physical health that makes someone unable to live normally
1. He suffered/had a breakdown after his wife died.
2. a total physical/mental breakdown [=collapse]
• the process or result of showing the different parts of something in order to understand it more clearly
1. Doing/Providing a breakdown of the statistics into categories will take time.
2. I want a detailed breakdown of the statistics into categories.
3. The library's database enables breakdown by title, author, and genre.
• the process or result of separating a substance into simpler parts
1. the breakdown of water into hydrogen and oxygen
2. observing cell/tissue/protein breakdown
3. a substance that resists breakdown