if a machine or vehicle breaks down, it stops working
if a relationship or discussion breaks down, it stops being successful
if a substance breaks down or is broken down into parts, it separates into the parts that it is made up of
to divide something such as a total amount into separate parts
to hit something such as a door or wall very hard so that it falls down
to remove a difficulty that prevents something from happening
to start crying, especially in public
At one point, the talks broke down completely.
Firefighters had to break down the door to get into the flat.
In crime novels, the cops have a couple of suspects and then break down the door and arrest one.
Luther watched him a minute to see if he would break down, but he was resolute.
People broke down and wept when they heard the news.
She'd sometimes heard people say that without magic the underground would break down forever.
Should Manfred ever break down in the wilderness he would always have a ready supply of kindling to hand for a warming campfire.
The aim of the agreement is to break down barriers to trade.
The amount doesn’t seem quite so bad when you break it down into monthly payments.
The car broke down just outside Winchester.
The substance is easily broken down by bacteria.
breaks down
breaking down
broke down
broken down
There is no origin for this phrasal verb
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