Breakdown may refer to:
- Breakdown (vehicle), failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that it cannot be operated
- Chemical decomposition, also called chemical breakdown, the breakdown of a substance into simpler components
- Decomposition, the process by which tissues of a dead organism break down into simpler forms of matter
- Drop set, also called a breakdown, a bodybuilding and weight training technique
- Electrical breakdown, the failure of an electric circuit or a rapid reduction in the resistance of an electrical insulator that can lead to a spark
- Mental breakdown, an acute, time-limited phase of exhibiting symptoms of a specific order, most commonly, depression and anxiety.
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Famous quotes containing the word breakdown:
“With the breakdown of the traditional institutions which convey values, more of the burdens and responsibility for transmitting values fall upon parental shoulders, and it is getting harder all the time both to embody the virtues we hope to teach our children and to find for ourselves the ideals and values that will give our own lives purpose and direction.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)
“The chief lesson of the Depression should never be forgotten. Even our liberty-loving American people will sacrifice their freedom and their democratic principles if their security and their very lives are threatened by another breakdown of our free enterprise system. We can no more afford another general depression than we can afford another total war, if democracy is to survive.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)
“A bad liver is to a Frenchman what a nervous breakdown is to an American. Everyone has had one and everyone wants to talk about it.”
—Art Buchwald (b. 1925)