breakdown : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: breakdown	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for breakdown
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
breakdown n the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue; "the social dislocations resulting from government policies"; "his warning came after the breakdown of talks in London" Synonym(s): dislocation, breakdown a mental or physical breakdown Synonym(s): breakdown, crack-up a cessation of normal operation; "there was a power breakdown" Synonym(s): breakdown, equipment failure an analysis into mutually exclusive categories Synonym(s): breakdown, partitioning
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Breakdown \Break"down`\, n. 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.