Search Result for "break down":
Wordnet 3.0

VERB (8)

1. make ineffective;
- Example: "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination"
[syn: break down, crush]

2. make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features;
- Example: "analyze a specimen"
- Example: "analyze a sentence"
- Example: "analyze a chemical compound"
[syn: analyze, analyse, break down, dissect, take apart]

3. lose control of one's emotions;
- Example: "When she heard that she had not passed the exam, she lost it completely"
- Example: "When her baby died, she snapped"
[syn: break down, lose it, snap]

4. stop operating or functioning;
- Example: "The engine finally went"
- Example: "The car died on the road"
- Example: "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"
- Example: "The coffee maker broke"
- Example: "The engine failed on the way to town"
- Example: "her eyesight went after the accident"
[syn: fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down]

5. fall apart;
- Example: "the building crumbled after the explosion"
- Example: "Negotiations broke down"
[syn: crumble, crumple, tumble, break down, collapse]

6. cause to fall or collapse;

7. separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts;
[syn: decompose, break up, break down]

8. collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack;
[syn: break down, collapse]



WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

break down
    v 1: make ineffective; "Martin Luther King tried to break down
         racial discrimination" [syn: break down, crush]
    2: 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" [syn: analyze, analyse, break down,
       dissect, take apart] [ant: synthesise, synthesize]
    3: 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" [syn: break down, lose it, snap]
    4: 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" [syn: fail, go bad, give way, die,
       give out, conk out, go, break, break down]
    5: fall apart; "the building crumbled after the explosion";
       "Negotiations broke down" [syn: crumble, crumple,
       tumble, break down, collapse]
    6: cause to fall or collapse
    7: separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts
       [syn: decompose, break up, break down]
    8: collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack [syn:
       break down, collapse]