Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb break-down

8 senses of break down

Sense 1
break down, crush -- (make ineffective; "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination")
       => change, alter, modify -- (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue")

Sense 2
analyze, analyse, break down, 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")

Sense 3
break down, lose it, snap -- (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")
       => act, behave, do -- (behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself; "You should act like an adult"; "Don't behave like a fool"; "What makes her do this way?"; "The dog acts ferocious, but he is really afraid of people")

Sense 4
fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down -- (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")
       => change -- (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night")

Sense 5
crumble, crumple, tumble, break down, collapse -- (fall apart; "the building crumbled after the explosion"; "Negotiations broke down")
       => change integrity -- (change in physical make-up)

Sense 6
break down -- (cause to fall or collapse)
       => break, bust -- (ruin completely; "He busted my radio!")

Sense 7
decompose, break up, break down -- (separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts)
       => separate -- (divide into components or constituents; "Separate the wheat from the chaff")

Sense 8
break down, collapse -- (collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack)
       => suffer, sustain, have, get -- (undergo (as of injuries and illnesses); "She suffered a fracture in the accident"; "He had an insulin shock after eating three candy bars"; "She got a bruise on her leg"; "He got his arm broken in the scuffle")

Antonyms of adj broken-down

2 senses of broken-down

Sense 1
bedraggled, broken-down, derelict, dilapidated, ramshackle, tatterdemalion, tumble-down -- (in deplorable condition; "a street of bedraggled tenements"; "a broken-down fence"; "a ramshackle old pier"; "a tumble-down shack")

INDIRECT (VIA damaged) -> undamaged -- (not harmed or spoiled; sound)

Sense 2
broken-down -- (not in working order; "had to push the broken-down car"; "a broken-down tractor fit only for children to play on")

INDIRECT (VIA unserviceable) -> serviceable -- (ready for service or able to give long service; "serviceable equipment"; "heavy serviceable fabrics")

Similarity of adj broken-down

2 senses of broken-down

Sense 1
bedraggled, broken-down, derelict, dilapidated, ramshackle, tatterdemalion, tumble-down -- (in deplorable condition; "a street of bedraggled tenements"; "a broken-down fence"; "a ramshackle old pier"; "a tumble-down shack")
       => damaged (vs. undamaged) -- (harmed or injured or spoiled; "I won't buy damaged goods"; "the storm left a wake of badly damaged buildings")

Sense 2
broken-down -- (not in working order; "had to push the broken-down car"; "a broken-down tractor fit only for children to play on")
       => unserviceable (vs. serviceable) -- (not ready for service; "unserviceable equipment may be replaced")