Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun breakdown

4 senses of breakdown

Sense 1
dislocation, breakdown -- (the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue; "the social dislocations resulting from government policies"; "his warning came after the breakdown of talks in London")
       => disruption, perturbation -- (the act of causing disorder)

Sense 2
breakdown, crack-up -- (a mental or physical breakdown)
       => collapse, prostration -- (an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion; "the commander's prostration demoralized his men")

Sense 3
breakdown, equipment failure -- (a cessation of normal operation; "there was a power breakdown")
       => failure -- (an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose; "the surprise party was a complete failure")

Sense 4
breakdown, partitioning -- (an analysis into mutually exclusive categories)
       => analysis, analytic thinking -- (the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations)