break down
[verb]
Synonyms:
- collapse, come unstuck, fail, seize up, stop, stop working
- be overcome, crack up (informal), go to pieces

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English Thesaurus: cry, cry your eyes out, be in tears, be close to tears, weep, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

break down phrasal verb (see also break)

1. if a car or machine breaks down, it stops working:
The car broke down just north of Paris.
The printing machines are always breaking down. ⇒ breakdown

2. to fail or stop working in a successful way:
Negotiations broke down after only two days.
I left London when my marriage broke down. ⇒ breakdown

3. break something ↔ down if you break down a door, you hit it so hard that it breaks and falls to the ground:
Police had to break down the door to get into the flat.

4. break something ↔ down to change or remove something that prevents people from working together and having a successful relationship with each other:
Getting young people together will help to break down the barriers between them.
It takes a long time to break down prejudices.

5. if a substance breaks down, or something breaks it down, it changes as a result of a chemical process
break something ↔ down
Food is broken down in the stomach.
Bacteria are added to help break down the sewage.

6. to be unable to stop yourself crying, especially in public:
He broke down and cried.
She broke down in tears when she heard the news.

7. break something ↔ down to separate something into smaller parts so that it is easier to do or understand:
He showed us the whole dance, then broke it down so that we could learn it more easily.
The question can be broken down into two parts.
⇒ breakdown

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

cry to produce tears from your eyes:
Don’t cry – everything will be all right!
Men aren’t supposed to cry.
cry your eyes out especially spoken to cry a lot and for a long time:
I cried my eyes out when I watched ‘Titanic’.
be in tears to be crying:
By the end of his story, we were all in tears.
be close to tears to be almost crying:
You could see that she was close to tears.
weep literary to cry, especially for a long time:
His mother put her head on the table and wept.
sob to cry, taking sudden loud breaths:
I could hear someone sobbing in the next room.
wail /weɪl/ to cry very loudly in a high voice:
The baby started wailing for its mother.
whimper /ˈwɪmpə $ -ər/ to cry quietly and weakly:
She began rocking to and fro, whimpering softly.
hold/fight back the tears to make a big effort not to cry:
She told her story, struggling to hold back the tears.
your eyes water if your eyes water, they have tears in them, for example because of smoke, wind, or when you are cutting onions:
The onions were making my eyes water.
burst into tears to suddenly start crying:
The man shouted at her and she burst into tears.
break down to start crying after trying hard not to cry, especially when talking about something very upsetting:
He broke down and begged for forgiveness.
When I saw what had happened to him, I just broke down and cried.
a cry of pain/despair/delight etc
A rock was loose and he fell with a sharp cry of surprise.
a cry escapes somebody/sb’s lips
A cry escaped her lips as he tightened his grip on her wrist.
give a cry
The woman looked up and gave a cry of fear.
let out/utter a cry
Seeing the fields and mountains, she let out a cry of delight.
a small/little cry
The child gave a small cry and burst into tears.
a loud cry
a loud cry of pain
a great cry literary (=a loud cry)
With a great cry they charged into battle.
a sharp cry (=loud, short, and sudden)
He gave a sharp cry of pain.
a low cry (=not loud or high)
I heard a long, low cry of despair.
a strangled/stifled cry (=that stops before it is finished)
The girl gave a stifled cry of disappointment.
a muffled cry (=that cannot be heard clearly)
I thought I heard a muffled cry from somewhere in the building.
an anguished/agonised cry (=full of distress)
She gave an anguished cry, calling his name.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

break down
break down (someone)
1.
to cause someone to become emotional.
Andy broke down and cried several times during his retirement speech.

2.
to weaken someone.
I felt so good, I felt like nothing could break me down or make me sick.

break down (something)
1.
to divide something into smaller parts.
The quickest way to get this job done is to break it down into a number of specific steps.

2.
to cause something to weaken or decay.
Temperatures were high enough to break down the chemicals.

One sniff of that chocolate was enough to break down my determination not to eat sweets.

3.
to explain something.
Let me break it down for you — when a dog shows its teeth, it's about to attack you.

1.
to stop working.
Sometimes the heating system simply breaks down.

Talks between the two countries broke down.

2.
to become very emotional.
I didn't know anyone who was killed, but I still broke down and cried when I heard about the bombings.

3.
to lose strength or determination.
He didn't want to go, but in April he broke down and accompanied his wife and two children to Disneyland.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

break down something
break down (something)
1.
to divide something into smaller parts.
The quickest way to get this job done is to break it down into a number of specific steps.

2.
to cause something to weaken or decay.
Temperatures were high enough to break down the chemicals.

One sniff of that chocolate was enough to break down my determination not to eat sweets.

3.
to explain something.
Let me break it down for you — when a dog shows its teeth, it's about to attack you.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

break down
1. • break down
1). to lose control of one's emotions
The woman broke down while the lawyer questioned her at the trial.

2). to stop working because of mechanical failure
The car broke down on the lonely road and nobody knew about it.

3). to fail, to stop
The negotiations broke down last night when both sides refused to compromise.

2. • break down (something)
1). to analyze something
We must break down these figures for further study.

2). to divide into parts, to separate into simpler substances
We tried to break down the sentence for further study.

The sugar began to break down soon after it was swallowed.

3. • break (something) down
to explain something to someone in simple terms
My teacher broke down the scientific theory so that the class could understand it easily.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

break down something
1. to analyze something
We must break down these figures for further study.

2. to divide into parts, to separate into simpler substances
We tried to break down the sentence for further study.

The sugar began to break down soon after it was swallowed.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

break something down
• break (something) down
to explain something to someone in simple terms
My teacher broke down the scientific theory so that the class could understand it easily.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

break down
v. (stress on "down")
1. To smash or hit (something) so that it falls; cause to fall by force.
The firemen broke down the door.
2. To reduce or destroy the strength or effect of; weaken; win over.
By helpful kindness the teacher broke down the new boy's shyness.
Advertising breaks down a lot of stubbornness against change.
3. To separate into elements or parts; decay.
Water is readily broken down into hydrogen and oxygen.
After many years, rocks break down into dirt.
4. To become unusable because of breakage or other failure; lose power to work or go.
The car broke down after half an hour's driving.
His health broke down.
When the coach was sick in bed, the training rules of the team broke down.
Compare: GO BACK ON².

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲