Textual thesaurus for "break down"

(verb) collapse

collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack

(verb) decompose, break up

separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts

(verb) break, die, conk out, go, go bad, give out, give way, fail

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

(verb) analyse, analyze, dissect, take apart

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

(verb) crush

make ineffective

Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination

(verb) snap, lose it

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

(verb) collapse, crumble, crumple, tumble

fall apart

the building crumbled after the explosion; Negotiations broke down