How do you use the word "breakdown" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "breakdown" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "breakdown": She is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. If Jane does not rest more, she may have a nervous breakdown.

Breakdown Meaning

/ˈbɹeɪkdaʊn/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.

nounA failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature., The sudden (and usually damaging) transition of an electrical insulator to a conductor when subjected to a sufficiently strong voltage, caused by the partial or complete ionization of the insulator; (countable) an instance of this; also, the minimum voltage at which this occurs.

Sentence Examples

She is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

If Jane does not rest more, she may have a nervous breakdown.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The sudden ____ of their old car left them stranded on the highway at midnight.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

Her car suffered a major ____ on the highway during the morning rush.

Word Origin & History

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-der. Proto-Germanic *brekaną Proto-West Germanic *brekan Old English brecan Middle English breken English break Old English of- Proto-Germanic *dūnaz? Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós? Proto-Celtic *dūnomder.? Proto-West Germanic *dūnā Old English dūne Old English ofdūne Old English adūne Old English dūne Middle English doun English down English break downdeverb. English breakdown Deverbal from break down.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"He declared that these drastic steps would undoubtedly inconvenience a good many people, but the alternative was bankruptcy of the Ulster Transport Authority and the breakdown of public transport services." — 1956 May, “Transport in Ulster”, in Railway Magazine, page 279:

"The railways' monopoly had meant that accountancy and record-keeping had been limited to global accounts. In other words, there were only really headline numbers, with little useful breakdown by routes or traffic type." — 2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of Things to Come …”, in Rail, number 978, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 44:

"I am quite competent to answer all / Demands, in any such capacity— / But of the break-down of my general aims: […]" — 1835, Robert Browning, “III.—Paracelsus.”, in Paracelsus, London: Effingham Wilson, […], →OCLC, page 92:

"What else than Feudalism could have followed upon the breakdown of that great centralized governmental machine known as the Roman Empire?" — 1908 February 19, Anthony Meredith [pseudonym; Jack London], “Foreword”, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page xii:

"[H]e was led away to a private sanitarium for mental disease, while in the newspapers appeared pathetic accounts of his mental breakdown and of the saintliness of his character." — 1908 February 19, Jack London, “The Bishop”, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 188:

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