break down

phrasal verbphr v

a) MACHINEBROKENif a car or machine breaks down, it stops working 停止运转，出故障

The car broke down just north of Paris.

汽车就在巴黎以北的地方抛锚了。

The printing machines are always breaking down.

印刷机老是出故障。

→ breakdown

b) FAILFAILto fail or stop working in a successful way 失败

Negotiations broke down after only two days.

谈判只进行了两天就破裂了。

I left London when my marriage broke down.

我婚姻破裂以后就离开了伦敦。

→ breakdown

c) DOOROPEN break something ↔ down if you break down a door, you hit it so hard that it breaks and falls to the ground 撞倒，打破，砸破〔门〕

Police had to break down the door to get into the flat.

警方只得把门撞开，进入公寓。

d) 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 消除，驱除〔人与人之间的隔阂等〕

Getting young people together will help to break down the barriers between them.

把年轻人聚集起来可以帮助他们消除彼此之间的隔阂。

It takes a long time to break down prejudices.

消除偏见需要很长时间。

e) CHANGE CHEMICALLYCHANGE FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHERif a substance breaks down, or something breaks it down, it changes as a result of a chemical process （使）分解

break something ↔ down

Food is broken down in the stomach.

食物在胃里分解。

Bacteria are added to help break down the sewage.

下水道中加入了细菌，帮助分解污物。

f) CRYCRYto be unable to stop yourself crying, especially in public 〔尤指在公共场合〕禁不住哭出来

He broke down and cried.

他情绪崩溃，哭了出来。

She broke down in tears when she heard the news.

她听到这个消息禁不住泪流满面。

g) MAKE something SIMPLESEPARATE break something ↔ down to separate something into smaller parts so that it is easier to do or understand 拆分，把…分成若干部分〔以方便做或理解〕

He showed us the whole dance, then broke it down so that we could learn it more easily.

他给我们演示了整段舞蹈，然后拆分开来方便我们学习。

The question can be broken down into two parts.

这个问题可以分为两个部分。

→ breakdown

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.

→ break down at break1(PHRASAL VERB)

break downChinese

BNC: 0 COCA: 0