break down
verb
1 break down
Make ineffective:
— Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination.
synonym: crush.
2 break down
Make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features.
synonyms: analyse, analyze, dissect, take apart.
3 break down
Lose control of one's emotions.
synonyms: lose it, snap.
Dutch: afknappen
4 break down
Stop operating or functioning.
synonyms: break, conk out, die, fail, give out, give way, go, go bad.
Roget 304:
303,
come short of,
fall short of,
stop short of,
come short,
fall short,
stop short;
not reach;
want;
keep within bounds,
keep within the mark,
keep within the compass.
break down,
stick in the mud,
collapse,
flat out [U.S.],
come to nothing;
fall through,
fall to the ground;
cave in,
end in smoke,
miss the mark,
fail;
lose ground;
miss stays.
... show more
Dutch: overlijden, het laten afweten, afslaan, afspringen
5 break down
Fall apart.
synonyms: collapse, crumble, crumple, tumble.
Roget 162:
be destroyed
&c.;
perish;
fall to the ground;
tumble,
topple;
go to pieces,
fall to pieces;
break up;
crumble to dust;
go to the dogs,
go to the wall,
go to smash,
go to shivers,
go to wreck,
go to pot,
go to wrack and ruin;
go by the board,
go all to smash;
be all over,
be all up,
be all with;
totter to its fall.
destroy;
do away with,
make away with;
nullify;
annual
etc.
756;
sacrifice,
demolish;
tear up;
overturn,
overthrow,
overwhelm;
upset,
subvert,
put an end to;
seal the doom of,
do in,
do for,
dish [Slang],
undo;
break up,
cut up;
break down,
cut down,
pull down,
mow down,
blow down,
beat down;
suppress,
quash,
put down,
do a job on;
cut short,
take off,
blot out;
dispel,
dissipate,
dissolve;
consume.
smash,
crash,
quell,
squash,
squelch,
crumple up,
shatter,
shiver;
batter to pieces,
tear to pieces,
crush to pieces,
cut to pieces,
shake to pieces,
pull to pieces,
pick to pieces;
laniate†;
nip;
tear to rags,
tear to tatters;
crush to atoms,
knock to atoms;
ruin;
strike out;
throw over,
knock down over;
fell,
sink,
swamp,
scuttle,
wreck,
shipwreck,
engulf,
ingulf†,
submerge;
lay in ashes,
lay in ruins;
sweep away,
erase,
wipe out,
expunge,
raze;
level with the dust,
level with the ground;
waste;
atomize,
vaporize.
deal destruction,
desolate,
devastate,
lay waste,
ravage gut;
disorganize;
dismantle
etc.
(render useless)
645;
devour,
swallow up,
sap,
mine,
blast,
bomb,
blow to smithereens,
drop the big one,
confound;
exterminate,
extinguish,
quench,
annihilate;
snuff out,
put out,
stamp out,
trample out;
lay in the dust,
trample in the dust;
prostrate;
tread under foot;
crush under foot,
trample under foot;
lay the ax to the root of;
make short work of,
make clean sweep of,
make mincemeat of;
cut up root and branch,
chop into pieces,
cut into ribbons;
fling to the winds,
scatter to the winds;
throw overboard;
strike at the root of,
sap the foundations of,
spring a mine,
blow up,
ravage with fire and sword;
cast to the dogs;
eradicate
etc.
301.
... show more
Roget 732:
fail;
be unsuccessful
etc.
adj.;
not succeed
etc.
731;
make vain efforts
etc.
n.;
do in vain,
labor in vain,
toil in vain;
flunk [U.S.];
lose one's labor,
take nothing by one's motion;
bring to naught,
make nothing of;
wash a blackamoor white
etc.
(impossible)
471;
roll the stones of Sisyphus
etc.
(useless)
645;
do by halves
etc.
(not complete)
730;
lose ground
etc.
(recede)
282;
fall short of
etc.
304.
miss,
miss one's aim,
miss the mark,
miss one's footing,
miss stays;
slip,
trip,
stumble;
make a slip
etc.
n..
blunder
etc.
495,
make a mess of,
make a botch of;
bitch it†,
miscarry,
abort,
go up like a rocket and come down like the stick,
come down in flames,
get shot down,
reckon without one's host;
get the wrong pig by the tail,
get the wrong sow by the ear
etc.
(blunder),
)mismanage)
699.
limp,
halt,
hobble,
titubate†;
fall,
tumble;
lose one's balance;
fall to the ground,
fall between two stools;
flounder,
falter,
stick in the mud,
run aground,
split upon a rock;
beat one's head against a stone wall,
run one's head against a stone wall,
knock one's head against a stone wall,
dash one's head against a stone wall;
break one's back;
break down,
sink,
drown,
founder,
have the ground cut from under one;
get into trouble,
get into a mess,
get into a scrape;
come to grief
etc.
(adversity)
735;
go to the wall,
go to the dogs,
go to pot;
lick the dust,
bite the dust;
be defeated
etc.
731;
have the worst of it,
lose the day,
come off second best,
lose;
fall a prey to;
succumb
etc.
(submit)
725;
not have a leg to stand on.
come to nothing,
end in smoke;
flat out†;
fall to the ground,
fall through,
fall dead,
fall stillborn,
fall flat;
slip through one's fingers;
hang fire,
miss fire;
flash in the pan,
collapse;
topple down
etc.
(descent)
305;
go to wrack and ruin
etc.
(destruction)
162.
go amiss,
go wrong,
go cross,
go hard with,
go on a wrong tack;
go on ill,
come off ill,
turn out ill,
work ill;
take a wrong term,
take an ugly term;
take an ugly turn,
take a turn for the worse.
be all over with,
be all up with;
explode;
dash one's hopes
etc.
(disappoint)
509;
defeat the purpose;
sow the wind and reap the whirlwind,
jump out of the frying pan into the fire,
go from the frying pan into the fire.
... show more
Dutch: uit elkaar vallen, instorten, inzakken
6 break down
Cause to fall or collapse.
Dutch: ontbinden
7 break down
Separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts.
synonyms: break up, decompose.
Dutch: ontbinden
8 break down
Collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack.
synonym: collapse.
Dutch: stukgaan
noun
Roget 162:
destruction;
waste,
dissolution,
breaking up;
diruption†,
disruption;
consumption;
disorganization.
fall,
downfall,
devastation,
ruin,
perdition,
crash;
eboulement [Fr.],
smash,
havoc,
delabrement [Fr.],
debacle;
break down,
break up,
fall apart;
prostration;
desolation,
bouleversement [Fr.],
wreck,
wrack,
shipwreck,
cataclysm;
washout.
extinction,
annihilation;
destruction of life
etc.
361;
knock-down blow;
doom,
crack of doom.
destroying
etc.
v.;
demolition,
demolishment;
overthrow,
subversion,
suppression;
abolition
etc.
(abrogation)
756;
biblioclasm†;
sacrifice;
ravage,
razzia†;
inactivation;
incendiarism;
revolution
etc.
146;
extirpation
etc.
(extraction)
301;
beginning of the end,
commencement de la fin [Fr.],
road to ruin;
dilapidation
etc.
(deterioration)
659;
sabotage.
... show more
adjective
Roget 659:
unimproved
etc.
(improve)
etc.
658;
deteriorated
etc.
v.;
altered,
altered for the worse;
injured
etc.
v.;
sprung;
withering,
spoiling
etc.
v.;
on the wane,
on the decline;
tabid†;
degenerate;
marescent†;
worse;
the worse for,
all the worse for;
out of repair,
out of tune;
imperfect
etc.
651;
the worse for wear;
battered;
weathered,
weather-beaten;
stale,
passe,
shaken,
dilapidated,
frayed,
faded,
wilted,
shabby,
secondhand,
threadbare;
worn,
worn to a thread,
worn to a shadow,
worn to the stump,
worn to rags;
reduced,
reduced to a skeleton;
far gone;
tacky [U.S.].
decayed
etc.
v.;
moth-eaten,
worm-eaten;
mildewed,
rusty,
moldy,
spotted,
seedy,
time-worn,
moss-grown;
discolored;
effete,
wasted,
crumbling,
moldering,
rotten,
cankered,
blighted,
tainted;
depraved
etc.
(vicious)
945;
decrepid†,
decrepit;
broke,
busted,
broken,
out of commission,
hors de combat [Fr.],
out of action,
broken down;
done,
done for,
done up;
worn out,
used up,
finished;
beyond saving,
fit for the dust hole,
fit for the wastepaper basket,
past work
etc.
(useless)
645.
at a low ebb,
in a bad way,
on one's last legs;
undermined,
deciduous;
nodding to its fall
etc.
(destruction)
162;
tottering
etc.
(dangerous)
665;
past cure
etc.
(hopeless)
859;
fatigued
etc.
688;
retrograde
etc.
(retrogressive)
283;
deleterious
etc.
649.
... show more
Moby thesaurus: afflict, aggrieve, alphabetize, analyze, anatomize, anguish, arrange, assay, assort, bawl, beat down, bend, blow, blow down, blubber, boohoo, break, break up, bring down, bring low, bring to tears, bring to terms, bulldoze, burn down, burn out, burst into tears, cast down, catalog, categorize, cave in, chop down, class, classify, codify, collapse, come to naught, come to nothing, conk out, conquer, crack up, crumble, crush, cry, cut down, cut up, decompose, desolate, digest, disintegrate, dissect, dissolve in tears, divide, draw tears, droop, drop, drop a tear, embitter, faint, fall down, fall flat, fall in, fall through, fatigue, fell, file, fizzle out, flag, flatten, founder, gasp, get bogged down, get hung up, get mired, get tired, give out, go haywire, go kaput, go wrong, grade, greet, grieve, group, grow weary, humble, humiliate, index, inundate, jade, knock down, knock over, level, list, master, molder, mow down, oppress, order, overmaster, overwhelm, pack up, pant, peg out, peter out, pigeonhole, place, play out, poop out, prostrate, puff, puff and blow, pull down, putrefy, quell, range, rank, rase, rate, raze, reduce, reduce to elements, resolve, rot, run down, run out, segment, separate, shed tears, sink, smash, snivel, sob, sorrow, sort, spoil, steamroller, subdivide, subdue, succumb, suppress, sway, tabulate, taint, take down, tear down, throw down, tire, topple, topple down, topple over, torment, totter, trample underfoot, tread underfoot, turn, type, tyrannize, unman, weary, weep, wheeze, whimper, wilt ... show more.
debug info: 0.0309