BREAKDOWN
Dictionary entry overview: What does breakdown mean?
• BREAKDOWN (noun)
The noun BREAKDOWN has 4 senses:
1. the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue
2. a mental or physical breakdown
3. a cessation of normal operation
4. an analysis into mutually exclusive categories
Familiarity information: BREAKDOWN used as a noun is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• BREAKDOWN (noun)
Meaning:
The act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
breakdown; dislocation
Context examples:
the social dislocations resulting from government policies / his warning came after the breakdown of talks in London
Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):
disruption; perturbation (the act of causing disorder)
Meaning:
A mental or physical breakdown
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Synonyms:
crack-up; breakdown
Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):
collapse (an abrupt failure of function or health)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breakdown"):
nervous breakdown (a severe or incapacitating emotional disorder)
Meaning:
A cessation of normal operation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Synonyms:
equipment failure; breakdown
Context example:
there was a power breakdown
Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):
failure (an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breakdown"):
brake failure (brakes fail to stop a vehicle)
engine failure (engine does not run)
dud; misfire (an explosion that fails to occur)
outage (a temporary suspension of operation (as of computers))
power failure; power outage (equipment failure resulting when the supply of power fails)
fault ((electronics) equipment failure attributable to some defect in a circuit (loose connection or insulation failure or short circuit etc.))
Meaning:
An analysis into mutually exclusive categories
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
partitioning; breakdown
Hypernyms ("breakdown" is a kind of...):
analysis; analytic thinking (the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breakdown"):
resolution; resolving (analysis into clear-cut components)
