From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbreak down phrasal verb1 MACHINEBROKENif a car or machine breaks down, it stops working The car broke down just north of Paris. The printing machines are always breaking down. → breakdown2 FAILFAILto fail or stop working in a successful way Negotiations broke down after only two days. I left London when my marriage broke down. → breakdown3 DOOROPEN break something ↔ down if you break down a door, you hit it so hard that it breaks and falls to the ground Police had to break down the door to get into the flat.4 CHANGE FIXED IDEASCHANGE/MAKE something DIFFERENT break something ↔ down to change or remove something that prevents people from working together and having a successful relationship with each other Getting young people together will help to break down the barriers between them. It takes a long time to break down prejudices.5 CHANGE CHEMICALLYCHANGE FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHERif a substance breaks down, or something breaks it down, it changes as a result of a chemical processbreak something ↔ down Food is broken down in the stomach. Bacteria are added to help break down the sewage.6 CRYCRYto be unable to stop yourself crying, especially in public He broke down and cried. She broke down in tears when she heard the news.7 MAKE something SIMPLESEPARATE break something ↔ down to separate something into smaller parts so that it is easier to do or understand He showed us the whole dance, then broke it down so that we could learn it more easily. The question can be broken down into two parts. → breakdown → break→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
break down• A mechanical breakdown during the race would mean defeat.• Firemen had to break the door down.• Open the door now or we'll break it down!• She was late for the meeting because her car broke down.• The elevators in this building are always breaking down.• As the funeral service began, Frances broke down and cried.• One, on the Great Western, broke down at Maidenhead, coaxed beyond its limit.• The theory, however, broke down; both customers and employees got lost in the shuffle.• The program is broken down first by decade, then by year, finally by month and date.• All the worry and anxiety had been too much for her, and she suddenly broke down in tears.• Once some increasing-returns sectors become nontraded, the analysis breaks down in two ways.• If you find a piece of music hard to play, break it down into small sections and practise each one slowly.• Trading Bonds for a pitcher is an unacceptable risk because pitchers break down so frequently.• Try to break down the calculation and get the students to do it in stages.• Four or five of them broke down the door of the Admiral Benbow and ran inside.• I broke down when he'd gone, knowing that I might never see him again.• Only if public order appeared to be on the verge of breaking down would the government contemplate restricting political liberty.break down ... barriers• After years of tortuous study, absurdly limited measures to break down the barriers between banks and brokers have been proposed.• We have begun the job of raising educational standards and breaking down the barriers between the vocational and the academic routes.• Yes, let's break down the barriers completely and have a magazine that appeals to everybody, and read by nobody.• We must break down the barriers of conditioning and open our minds to far higher goals.• There is mounting pressure to break down the barriers protecting the tax-deductible charitable dollar.• If we broke down the barriers to accessing information, dirty secrets would be exposed and knowledge could be shared.broke down in tears• Charles Emanuel broke down in tears.• Just two weeks later Nader Nadirpur broke down in tears.• The night war was declared Mrs Burrows broke down in tears.• Marcos's widow Imelda broke down in tears but her daughters Imee and Irene maintained their composure.• The Princess broke down in tears during her first public engagement after Mr Morton's book went on sale.• As the service ended, several attendees broke down in tears, including 19-year-old rapper Mase.• In court Burg broke down in tears while reading the statement.From Longman Business Dictionarybreak down phrasal verb1[transitive] break something → down to separate information or a total amount into parts, especially so that it is easier to understandOnce the statistics are broken down, some clear patterns of employment begin to emerge.2[intransitive] if talks break down, they fail and come to an end because the people involved cannot agreeThe meeting between management and unions broke down and no progress was made. → break→ See Verb table 