v.

1. make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features;
   analyze, analyse, dissect, take apart
   
   • analyze a specimen
   • analyze a sentence
   • analyze a chemical compound
2. make ineffective;
   crush
   
   • Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination
3. lose control of one's emotions;
   lose it, snap
   
   • When she heard that she had not passed the exam, she lost it completely
   • When her baby died, she snapped
4. stop operating or functioning;
   fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break
   
   • The engine finally went
   • The car died on the road
   • The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town
   • The coffee maker broke
   • The engine failed on the way to town
   • her eyesight went after the accident
5. separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts;
   decompose, break up
6. fall apart;
   crumble, crumple, tumble, collapse
   
   • the building crumbled after the explosion
   • Negotiations broke down
7. cause to fall or collapse
8. collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack;
   collapse