break down（机器或车辆）发生故障，出毛病，损坏；（使）（物质）分解；（讨论、关系或系统）失败，破裂，失灵；消除，破除（障碍或偏见）；拆除；捣毁；感情失控（痛哭起来）；将…分成若干部分；分析，解释
1. （机器或车辆）发生故障，出毛病，损坏；下滑（降），垮掉，（倒下）崩溃，失败
I don’t care if your car breaks down or not.
我不关心你的车有没有发生故障。
My computer broke down and I had to take it to the repair shop.
我的电脑出了故障，我不得不把它送去修理店。
Alex explained that his car had broken down.
亚历克斯解释说他的汽车出了毛病。
Their car broke down.
他们的车子出故障了。
The bus broke down en route from Boston to New York.
公共汽车在从波士顿到纽约的途中抛锚了。
The car broke down and we had to get somebody to give us a tow.
汽车抛锚了，我们只得让人拖走。
We broke down miles from anywhere.
在一个偏远的地方，我们的车坏了。
My car's at the shop ─ the son of a gun broke down again.
我的车在修理厂呢——这破玩意儿又坏了。
Work came to a halt when the machine broke down.
机器一坏，工作便停了下来。
The company's profits have been breaking down year after year due to poor management.由于管理不善，公司的利润年复一年地下降。
Your health will break down if you work too hard.
如果你过分辛劳，会把身体搞垮。
He has completely broken down ( in health).
他的身体彻底垮了。
They easily break down when they face difficulties.
他们面对困难时很容易崩溃。
The team broke down under the pressure and lost the game.
球队在压力下崩溃了，输掉了比赛。
The old bridge broke down after years of wear and tear.
这座老桥经过多年的磨损后崩溃了。
The dam broke down and in result the land was flooded.
大坝倒塌了，土地因而被淹。
They can sometimes break down and you have to spend time mending them.
它们有时会发生故障，你不得不花时间进行修补。
Groups without leaders or with weak leaders almost always break down.
没有领导或是领导力不够的团队几乎总是失败。
After news of this new court case Ford broke down again, though he blamed the breakdown on his work
福特听到这一场新官司的消息后再次精神崩溃，尽管他说自己是因为工作才这样的。
Why are many students so easy to break down?
为什么很多学生会如此容易崩溃?
中考真题- 2019 衡阳 阅读判断
They easily break down when they face difficulties.
他们遇到困难时容易崩溃。
中考真题- 2019 衡阳 阅读判断
If my e-bike must break down today, it couldn't be arranged in a better way.
如果我的电动自行车一定要在今天坏掉，那我没法把事情安排得更好了。
中考真题- 2019 徐州 完形填空
One day we'll see Venice break down.
总有一天，我们将会看到威尼斯土崩瓦解。
四级真题- 2018年 6月 2卷 信息匹配
If the food situation continues to worsen, entire nations will break down at an ever increasing rate.
如果粮食形势继续恶化，所有国家都将以前所未有的增速瘫痪。
四级真题- 2016年 6月 2卷 信息匹配
When the container is full, you can suck the refreshment out through the tube, and won't have to break down the still every time you need a drink ．
当容器装满时,你可以通过管子把饮用水吸出来，而不必每次要喝水都把蒸馏器弄坏。
高考真题- 2017 全国1卷 阅读D
2. （讨论、关系或系统）失败，破裂
Many people were expecting the peace talks would break down.
许多人预料和平谈判会破裂。
Talks between management and workers broke down over the issue of holiday pay.
劳资双方就假日工资的谈判破裂了。
Talks between striking railway workers and the Polish government have broken down
罢工的铁路工人和波兰政府间举行的谈判已经破裂了。
The negotiations broke down due to disagreements between the two parties.
由于双方意见不合，谈判破裂了。
The negotiation broke down because one side refused to play the game.
因一方拒绝按章办事，谈判破裂了。
Talks with business leaders broke down last night.
昨晚与商界领导人的谈判破裂了。
Marriages usually break down as a result of the shortcomings of both partners
婚姻常因为配偶双方的缺点而破裂。
When marriages break down children are swept into the vortex of their parents' embittered emotions.
当婚姻破裂时，孩子们也被卷进父母感情日益恶化的漩涡中。
3. 分解；将…分成若干部分
The mechanic broke down the car engine to find the problem.
这位机修工把汽车发动机拆开来找问题。
The mechanic broke down the engine to find the problem.
技工拆开引擎来找问题。
The report breaks down the results region by region.
报告将调查结果按地区分成若干部分。
These rules tell us how a sentence is broken down into phrases.
这些规则告诉我们一个句子是怎样分解成若干短语的。
4. （使）（物质）分解
Foods are broken down in the digestive tract
食物在消化道里分解。
Over time, the protein in the eggshell breaks down into its constituent amino acids.
时间久了，蛋壳中的蛋白质就会分解为其构成成分氨基酸。
Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team's findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills ．
贝尔托基尼对此表示赞同，并希望她的研究小组此次发现有一天能帮助人们使用酶来分解垃圾填埋场里的塑料。
高考真题- 2018 北京 阅读C
Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the greater wax moth can break down polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of plastics ．
西班牙和英国的研究人员最近发现,大蜡蛾的幼虫可以分解占塑料40%的聚乙烯。
高考真题- 2018 北京 阅读C
Jennifer DeBruyn, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene ．
田纳西大学的微生物学家詹妮弗·德布鲁恩（Jennifer DeBruyn）没有参与这项研究,她说,这种蠕虫能分解聚乙烯并不奇怪。
高考真题- 2018 北京 阅读C
5. 感情失控（痛哭起来）；破防，崩溃
Because he was being so kind and concerned, I broke down and cried.
他如此体贴关心，令我忍不住失声痛哭。（破防）
She broke down in tears when she heard the news of her grandmother's passing.
她听到她祖母去世的消息时哭了起来。（破防）
The young woman broke down in tears.
这名年轻妇人痛哭流涕。
I just broke down and wept with tears of joy
我一下子禁不住喜极而泣。
Her sister broke down, sobbing into her handkerchief.
她姐姐再也控制不住自己的情绪，捂着手绢呜咽起来。
The stress from work caused him to break down and cry.
工作压力让他崩溃并哭了起来。（破防）
6. 捣毁；拆除
An unruly mob broke down police barricades and stormed the courtroom.
一伙暴徒捣毁了警察设置的路障冲进法庭。
7. 消除，破除（障碍或偏见）
His early experience enabled him to break down barriers between Scottish Catholics and Protestants.
他早年的经历使他能够消除苏格兰天主教徒和新教徒之间的隔阂。
We're trying to break down barriers between young people from both communities.
我们正试图消除两个不同社区的年轻人之间的隔阂。
She had been waiting for Simon to break down the barrier between them
她一直在等待西蒙打破他们之间的隔阂。
The new policy aims to break down barriers between different cultures.
这项新政策旨在打破不同文化之间的障碍。
When you get involved in sports and athletes, a lot of the racial barriers are broken down.
当你参与到体育运动中的时候，很多种族隔阂就消失了。
8.分析，解释
The teacher broke down the difficult concept for the students to understand.
老师把复杂的概念分解给学生理解。
Can you break down the costs for me?
你能为我详细说明一下费用吗？