breakdown

1 a mental or nervous collapse <if you don't ease your workload, you're going to have a breakdown> Synonyms crack-up, nervous breakdown, tailspin Related Words frazzle, freak-out, meltdown; alarm (also alarum), anxiety, apprehension, disquiet; excitability, nervousness; disturbance; agitation, discomposure, perturbation; basket case Near Antonyms aplomb, calmness, composure, coolness, imperturbability, placidity, self-possession, sereneness, serenity, tranquillity (or tranquility), tranquilness

2 the process by which dead organic matter separates into simpler substances <the breakdown of the body was arrested by the embalming process> Synonyms corruption, decay, decomposition, festering, putrefaction, putrescence, rot, spoilageRelated Words crumbling, disintegration, dissolution; curdling, fermentation, moldering, souringNear Antonyms growth, maturation, ripening

3 the separation and identification of the parts of a whole <a demographic breakdown revealed that the ethnic composition of the area had changed significantly since the last census> Synonyms anatomizing, anatomy, assay, analysis, deconstruction, dissectionRelated Words assessment, diagnosis, evaluation, examination, inspection, investigation, muster, scrutiny; arrangement, assortment, cataloging (or cataloguing), categorization, classification, codification, indexing; enumeration, inventory, itemization, tabulation; division, reduction, segmentation, separation, subdivisionNear Antonyms agglomeration, aggregation, amalgamation, assimilation, coalescence, conglomeration, consolidation, integration, synthesis, unification