Akademik

break down
verb
1. make ineffective (Freq. 3)
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Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination

• Syn: ↑crush
• Derivationally related forms: ↑breakdown
• Hypernyms: ↑change, ↑alter, ↑modify
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s something

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Something ——s something

2. make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features (Freq. 3)
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analyze a specimen

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analyze a sentence

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analyze a chemical compound

• Syn: ↑analyze, ↑analyse, ↑dissect, ↑take apart
• Ant: ↑synthesize (for: ↑analyze)
• Derivationally related forms: ↑dissection (for: ↑dissect), ↑breakdown, ↑analyser (for: ↑analyse), ↑analyst (for: ↑analyze), ↑analyzer (for: ↑analyze)
• Hyponyms: ↑parse, ↑botanize, ↑botanise
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s something

3. lose control of one's emotions (Freq. 2)
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When she heard that she had not passed the exam, she lost it completely

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When her baby died, she snapped

• Syn: ↑lose it, ↑snap
• Derivationally related forms: ↑breakdown
• Hypernyms: ↑act, ↑behave, ↑do
• Hyponyms: ↑dissolve, ↑die, ↑fall apart, ↑go to pieces
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s

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Sam and Sue break down

4. stop operating or functioning (Freq. 2)
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The engine finally went

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The car died on the road

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The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town

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The coffee maker broke

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The engine failed on the way to town

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her eyesight went after the accident

• Syn:
↑fail, ↑go bad, ↑give way, ↑die, ↑give out, ↑conk out, ↑go, ↑break
• Derivationally related forms: ↑breakdown, ↑breakable (for: ↑break), ↑failure (for: ↑fail)
• Hypernyms: ↑change
• Hyponyms:
↑crash, ↑go down, ↑blow out, ↑burn out, ↑blow, ↑misfire, ↑malfunction, ↑misfunction
• Verb Group:
↑die, ↑decease, ↑perish, ↑go, ↑exit, ↑pass away, ↑expire, ↑pass, ↑kick the bucket, ↑cash in one's chips, ↑buy the farm, ↑conk, ↑give-up the ghost, ↑drop dead, ↑pop off, ↑choke, ↑croak, ↑snuff it, ↑break
• Verb Frames:
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Something ——s

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These cars won't break down

5. fall apart (Freq. 1)
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the building crumbled after the explosion

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Negotiations broke down

• Syn: ↑crumble, ↑crumple, ↑tumble, ↑collapse
• Hypernyms: ↑change integrity
• Verb Frames:
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Something ——s

6. cause to fall or collapse
• Hypernyms: ↑break, ↑bust
• Cause: ↑crumble, ↑crumple, ↑tumble, ↑collapse
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s something

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Something ——s something

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They want to break down the doors

7. separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts
• Syn: ↑decompose, ↑break up
• Derivationally related forms: ↑decomposition (for: ↑decompose)
• Topics: ↑chemistry, ↑chemical science
• Hypernyms: ↑separate
• Hyponyms: ↑digest, ↑dissociate, ↑crack
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s somebody

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Something ——s something

8. collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack
• Syn: ↑collapse
• Derivationally related forms: ↑collapse (for: ↑collapse), ↑breakdown
• Hypernyms: ↑suffer, ↑sustain, ↑have, ↑get
• Hyponyms: ↑drop like flies, ↑fall over, ↑go over
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s

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Sam and Sue break down


Useful english dictionary. 2012.