{
    "term": "breakdown",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "an occasion when a vehicle or machine stops working",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a breakdown on the motorway"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a breakdown recovery service"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Most breakdown services give priority to women travelling alone."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The national breakdown organizations are on hand to help motorists 24 hours a day."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Transport by car or lorry", "Engineering"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["mechanical"],
                "breakdown + verb": ["occur"],
                "breakdown + noun": ["service", "truck", "vehicle"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a failure of a relationship, discussion or system",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The only ground for divorce is the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage."
                },
                {
                    "text": "marriage breakdown"
                },
                {
                    "text": "There has obviously been a breakdown in communications between the two sides."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The breakdown of the negotiations was not unexpected."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the complete breakdown of law and order"
                },
                {
                    "text": "A growing proportion of children are affected by family breakdown."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Marital breakdown can be followed by debt problems."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Both sides blame each other for the breakdown in negotiations."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Difficulty and failure"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["serious", "complete", "irretrievable"],
                "verb + breakdown": ["cause", "lead to", "prevent"],
                "preposition": ["breakdown in", "breakdown of"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "detailed information that you get by studying a set of figures",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "First, let's look at a breakdown of the costs."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Please provide us with a breakdown of expenditure by department."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["detailed", "full", "cost"],
                "verb + breakdown": [
                    "prepare",
                    "give somebody",
                    "provide (somebody with)"
                ],
                "preposition": ["breakdown by", "breakdown of"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "the process of a substance breaking into the parts of which it is made",
            "labels": "(specialist)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the breakdown of proteins in the digestive system"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "a period of serious mental illness in which somebody is unable to deal with normal life",
            "labels": "(old-fashioned)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "It all became too much and he had some sort of breakdown."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Mental health"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["emotional", "mental", "nervous"],
                "verb + breakdown": ["have", "suffer"],
                "phrases": [
                    "the brink of a nervous breakdown",
                    "the edge of a nervous breakdown",
                    "the verge of a nervous breakdown"
                ]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈbreɪkdaʊn/",
                "audio": "br/breakdown/breakdown__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈbreɪkdaʊn/",
                "audio": "br/breakdown/breakdown__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": null
}