breakdown Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue
    dislocation.
    • the social dislocations resulting from government policies
    • his warning came after the breakdown of talks in London
  2. noun a mental or physical breakdown
    crack-up.
  3. noun a cessation of normal operation
    equipment failure.
    • there was a power breakdown
  4. noun an analysis into mutually exclusive categories
    partitioning.

WordNet

Break"down` noun
Definitions
  1. The act or result of breaking down, as of a carriage; downfall.
  2. (a) A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of persons or pairs in succession, as among the colored people of the Southern United States, and so called, perhaps, because the exercise is continued until most of those who take part in it break down. (b) Any rude, noisy dance performed by shuffling the feet, usually by one person at a time. U.S.
    Don't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are going to have a breakdown to wind up with. New Eng. Tales.

Webster 1913