breakdown

plural breakdowns · alternative break-down

1. countableA failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.

   Whenever he was behind the wheel, he would panic at the first sign of a breakdown.

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   He declared that these drastic steps would undoubtedly inconvenience a good many people, but the alternative was bankruptcy of the Ulster Transport Authority and the breakdown of public transport services.

   1956 May, “Transport in Ulster”, in Railway Magazine, page 279

   1. uncountablenatural sciencesThe sudden (and usually damaging) transition of an electrical insulator to a conductor when subjected to a sufficiently strong voltage, caused by the partial or complete ionization of the insulator; (countable) an instance of this; also, the minimum voltage at which this occurs.
2. countableSomething, such as a vehicle, that has experienced a mechanical failure.

   We saw a breakdown by the side of the road.

3. Separation of a thing into components; decomposition, fragmentation; (countable) an instance of this.
   1. uncountableDetailed categorization, or itemization or listing, of the components of a thing; (countable) an instance of this.

      Looking at the breakdown of the budget, I see a few items we could cut.

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      The railways' monopoly had meant that accountancy and record-keeping had been limited to global accounts. In other words, there were only really headline numbers, with little useful breakdown by routes or traffic type.

      2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of Things to Come …”, in Rail, number 978, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 44

   2. uncountablechemistryBreaking of chemical bonds within a compound to produce simpler compounds or elements; (countable) an instance of this.
   3. countablebroadcastingA detailed description of a forthcoming project or screenplay which identifies all the required elements, such as the cast, costumes, equipment, props, and special effects.
4. countablefigurativelyA failure in a relationship; a failure or loss of organization in a system.

   I am quite competent to answer all / Demands, in any such capacity— / But of the break-down of my general aims: […]

   1835, Robert Browning, “III.—Paracelsus.”, in Paracelsus, London: Effingham Wilson, […], →OCLC, page 92

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   What else than Feudalism could have followed upon the breakdown of that great centralized governmental machine known as the Roman Empire?

   1908 February 19, Anthony Meredith [pseudonym; Jack London], “Foreword”, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page xii

5. figurativelyuncountable(Sudden) worsening of physical health or (more commonly) mental stability, resulting in an inability to carry on normal activities; (countable) an instance of this.

   After so much stress, he suffered a breakdown and simply gave up.

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   [H]e was led away to a private sanitarium for mental disease, while in the newspapers appeared pathetic accounts of his mental breakdown and of the saintliness of his character.

   1908 February 19, Jack London, “The Bishop”, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 188

6. figurativelyuncountablebiologyInjury to a horse's leg causing lameness; (countable) an instance of this.
7. countablefigurativelyuncountablerugby unionThe short period of open play immediately after a tackle and before and during the ensuing ruck.

   When players appeal to the referee, as they so often do, for penalties at breakdowns when the supposed offender is being deliberately pinned down by their own teammates, they should understand they do their sport a small but significant disservice.

   2019 January 2, Robert Kitson, “This must not be the year when rugby union trashes its finest qualities”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2022

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   England beat Georgia in their Pool B World Cup match in Dunedin but the stuttering nature of the performance will be of concern to manager Martin Johnson. Georgia, ranked 16th in the world, dominated the breakdown before half-time and forced England into a host of infringements, but fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili missed three penalties.

   2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41 – 10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2022

8. attributivecountablefigurativelyAn act of splitting logs of wood using a large saw in a sawmill; also, the saw used; or (rare) the building in which the process is carried out.
9. countableuncountableentertainmentA part of a piece of music or a song which differs from the other parts in that it features improvisation or is stripped down (for example, played by fewer instruments or a solo performer).

   And now it's time for a breakdown.

   1992 March 11, James Brown, Thomas McElroy, Denzil Foster, John Starks, Fred Wesley, “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”, in Funky Divas, performed by En Vogue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.: EastWest Records, →OCLC

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   Izzy [Stradlin] lays down some big chords while Slash plays the song's banjo breakdown of a theme.

   2008 August, Stephen Davis, “Victory or Death”, in Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N’ Roses, New York, N.Y.: Gotham Books, →ISBN, page 102

10. countableuncountableentertainmentSynonym of percussion break (“a percussion-focused segment of a song, chosen by a hip-hop DJ to manipulate through cutting, mixing, and other techniques in order to create rhythmic music”).

    Synonyms: percussion break

11. countableuncountableentertainmentA section of a song, typical in hardcore music and related styles (such as metalcore, grindcore, and deathcore), characterized by a lower tempo and greater heaviness and intensity of sound.

    The fired-up foursome [Trial] takes itself very seriously, singing politically charged lyrics, which, in the tradition of Strife and Damnation AD, are strategically placed in the middle of slamming, moshable breakdowns.

    1999 August 16, Amy Sciarretto, “Loud Rock”, in Glen Sansone, editor, CMJ New Music Report, volume 59, number 9 (number 631 overall), Great Neck, N.Y.: College Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 28, column 2

12. Southern UScountabledateduncountabledanceA noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of individuals or pairs in succession, common among African-Americans from the Southern United States; also, a lively event, chiefly in a rural setting, at which such dancing is done; a hoedown, a shindig.

    Come, hold on, boys, do n't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are going to have a break down to wind up with.

    1859, John Russell Bartlett, “Break down”, in Dictionary of Americanisms: A Glossary of Words and Phrases usually Regarded as Peculiar to the United States, 2nd edition, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company; London: Trübner and Company, →OCLC, page 49

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    Towards nine the three miners said that as they had brought their instruments they might as well tune up, for the boys and girls would soon be arriving now, and hungry for a good old fashioned break[-]down. A fiddle, a banjo, and a clarinet—these were the instruments. The trio took their places side by side, and began to play some rattling dance-music, and beat time with their big boots.

    1906, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “The Californian’s Tale”, in The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 193

13. Southern UScountableuncountableentertainmentA piece of music played for such a dance, especially a rapid bluegrass tune featuring a five-string banjo.

    Without a change of countenance, as if he were deaf to her entreaties and threats, he tuned up the banjo, and played a breakdown.

    1898, Charles Garvice, chapter I, in Nell, of Shorne Mills; or, One Heart’s Burden, [S.l.]: Good Press, published 2019

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    The banjo built up to breakdown speed and then took a sidestep into another register, an oddly complex net of notes which stretched out for a time and finally stopped on a full rest.

    1989, Madison Smartt Bell, chapter 21, in Soldier’s Joy, New York, N.Y.: Ticknor & Fields, →ISBN, part II (Follow Me Down (1970–71)), page 186

    Her mother had not only gotten knocked up and lost her man when Sunset was thirteen, she soon took up with a traveling shoe salesman who played the banjo, wandered away with him and his shoes, probably to the sound of a banjo breakdown, leaving a note that read: "Sorry, Sunset, I got to go. Mama loves you. I left you a good pair of shoes in there on the kitchen table. They shine up easy."

    2004, Joe R[ichard] Lansdale, chapter 8, in Sunset and Sawdust (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 65

    The grown-ups were lolling around on the porch and in the yard, finger snapping and foot tapping while Samuel played "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on his five-string banjo.

    2011, Jenny Wingfield, chapter 12, in The Homecoming of Samuel Lake […], trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, published 2012, →ISBN, page 98

14. countableobsoleteAn act of a structure or other thing breaking and collapsing.