English · Word Candidate

breakdown

/ˈbɹeɪkdaʊn/

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: breakdowns

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Sự cố, đặc biệt là sự cố cơ học

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Noun

Examples

Whenever he was behind the wheel, he would panic at the first sign of a breakdown.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A 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.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Sự cố, đặc biệt là sự cố cơ học

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Noun

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “breakdown” mean?

A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.

Is “breakdown” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.