breakdown

noun

1. (countable)A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.

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

   “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.”

2. (uncountable)A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.
3. (countable)Something, such as a vehicle, that has experienced a mechanical failure.

   “We saw a breakdown by the side of the road.”

4. (uncountable)Separation of a thing into components; decomposition, fragmentation; (countable) an instance of this.

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

   “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.”

5. (uncountable)Separation of a thing into components; decomposition, fragmentation; (countable) an instance of this.
6. (countable)Separation of a thing into components; decomposition, fragmentation; (countable) an instance of this.
7. (countable, figuratively)A 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: […]”

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

8. (figuratively, uncountable)(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.”

   “[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.”

9. (figuratively, uncountable)Injury to a horse's leg causing lameness; (countable) an instance of this.
10. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)The short period of open play immediately after a tackle and before and during the ensuing ruck.

    “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.”

    “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.”

11. (attributive, countable, figuratively)An 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.
12. (countable, uncountable)A 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.”

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

13. (countable, uncountable)Synonym 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”).
14. (countable, uncountable)A 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.”

15. (Southern-US, countable, dated, uncountable)A 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.”

    “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.”

16. (Southern-US, countable, uncountable)A 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.”

    “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.”

    “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."”

    “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.”

17. (countable, obsolete)An act of a structure or other thing breaking and collapsing.