| VERB | competition | break down, crush | make ineffective |
|---|---|---|---|
| cognition | break down, analyze, analyse, dissect, take apart | make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of | |
| emotion | break down, lose it, snap | lose control of one's emotions | |
| change | break down, fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break | stop operating or functioning | |
| motion | break down, crumble, crumple, tumble, collapse | fall apart | |
| contact | break down | cause to fall or collapse | |
| change | break down, decompose, break up | separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts | |
| body | break down, collapse | collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack |
| Meaning | make ineffective. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something | |
| Example | "Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination" | |
| Synonym | crush | |
| Broader | change, alter, modify | Cause to change |
| Spanish | acabar con, derribar, destruir, romper | |
| Catalan | derrocar, rompre, trencar | |
| Nouns | breakdown | the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue |
| Meaning | make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s something | |
| Synonyms | analyze, analyse, dissect, take apart | |
| Narrower | botanize, botanise | Collect and study plants |
| parse | analyze syntactically by assigning a constituent structure to (a sentence) | |
| See also | break | ruin completely |
| Opposite | synthesize, synthesise | combine so as to form a more complex, product |
| Spanish | analizar | |
| Catalan | analitzar | |
| Nouns | breakdown | an analysis into mutually exclusive categories |
| Meaning | Lose control of one's emotions. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s | |
| Model | Sam and Sue break down | |
| Synonyms | lose it, snap | |
| Narrower | die | Be brought to or as if to the point of death by an intense emotion such as embarrassment, amusement, or shame |
| dissolve | Lose control emotionally | |
| fall apart, go to pieces | Lose one's emotional or mental composure | |
| Broader | act, behave, do | Behave in a certain manner |
| Nouns | breakdown | a mental or physical breakdown |
| Meaning | stop operating or functioning. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Something ----s | |
| Model | These cars won't break down | |
| Synonyms | fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break | |
| Narrower | blow out, burn out, blow | melt, break, or become otherwise unusable |
| crash, go down | stop operating | |
| malfunction, misfunction | fail to function or function improperly | |
| misfire | fail to fire or detonate | |
| Broader | change | Undergo a change |
| Similar to | break | Render inoperable or ineffective |
| die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass away, expire, pass, kick the bucket, cash in one's chips, buy the farm, conk, give-up the ghost, drop dead, pop off, choke, croak, snuff it | Pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain / sustain life | |
| Spanish | averiarse, estropearse, fallar, morir, pararse, perecer, romper | |
| Catalan | avariar-se, espatllar-se, fallar, parar-se | |
| Nouns | breakdown | a cessation of normal operation |
| Meaning | fall apart. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Something ----s | |
| Synonyms | crumble, crumple, tumble, collapse | |
| Caused by | break down | Cause to fall or collapse |
| Broader | change integrity | change in physical make-up |
| Spanish | ajarse, ajar, arruinar, colapsar, derribarse, derrumbarse, desmigajarse, desmoronarse, desmoronar, desplomar, romperse, venirse abajo | |
| Catalan | anar-se'n en orris, desplomar, ensorrar-se, esfondrar-se | |
| Meaning | Cause to fall or collapse. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something | |
| Model | They want to break down the doors | |
| Cause to | crumble, crumple, tumble, break down, collapse | fall apart |
| Broader | break, bust | ruin completely |
| Meaning | separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s somebody; Something ----s something | |
| Synonyms | decompose, break up | |
| Category | chemistry, chemical science | The science of matter |
| Narrower | crack | Reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking |
| digest | soften or disintegrate by means of chemical action, heat, or moisture | |
| dissociate | To undergo a reversible or temporary breakdown of a molecule into simpler molecules or atoms | |
| Broader | separate | divide into components or constituents |
| Spanish | descomponer | |
| Catalan | descompondre | |
| Nouns | breakdown | (biology) the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action |
| Meaning | Collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s | |
| Model | Sam and Sue break down | |
| Synonym | collapse | |
| Narrower | drop like flies | rapidly collapse, die, or drop out in large numbers |
| fall over, go over | fall forward and down | |
| Broader | suffer, sustain, have, get | Undergo (as of injuries and illnesses) |
| Spanish | derrumbarse | |
| Nouns | breakdown | a mental or physical breakdown |
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