breakdown

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can mean, in addition to its meaning in relation to machines, human health, and aspects of human behaviour, 'an analysis of statistics or information':

The breakdown of expenses...is relatively detailed in some cases but not in others—J. Greenwood et al., 1989.

Care should be taken to avoid possible confusion when the word might be understood in more than one way:

The suggestions called for a breakdown of Post Office performance—weblog, British English 2005 [Old English (up to 1150)C].

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noun

1. A cessation of proper mechanical functions: failure, outage. See thrive/fail/exist.
2. An abrupt disastrous failure: collapse, crash, debacle, smash, smashup, wreck. See money.
3. A sudden sharp decline in mental, emotional, or physical health: collapse. Informal crackup. See explosion/collapse.
4. The separation of a whole into its parts for study: analysis, anatomy, dissection. See assemble/disassemble, investigate.
5. The condition of being decayed: decay, decomposition, deterioration, disintegration, putrefaction, putrescence, putridness, rot, rottenness, spoilage. See better/worse, thrive/fail/exist.

n

Definition: nervous collapse
Antonyms: mental health

The term breakdown draws on Donald Winnicott's posthumous article "The Fear of Breakdown," published in 1974. Winnicott was referring to mental breakdown associated with a serious failure of the facilitating environment at such an early stage that the self is not yet capable of dealing with it, experiencing it, integrate it, giving it meaning, or retain a recognizable memory of it.

Winnicott describes the temporal paradox that results when the disaster occurs too early in the child's development to be properly experienced. The fear of breakdown is the product of the persistence of this unassimilated experience, which is perceived as a continuing permanent threat even though the disaster has actually already happened.

The interpretation according to which the feared cataclysm has already occurred gives meaning to its re-actualization during the transference in response to the minor failures of the holding environment. The breakdown emphasizes the essential fact that the loss of the object occurred before the object and self were differentiated. Here Winnicott distinguishes his own position from that of Melanie Klein: self and object exist and function during infancy. Yet, for Winnicott, the issue is not an object loss that can be metabolized through introjection (mourning) or incorporation (melancholy), but rather the subject's experience of annihilation, and mental agony.

In this way, at the end of his life, Winnicott completed his conceptualization of the pathogenic infantile deprivation in the environment before the self had had a chance to organize itself: a massive deficiency resulting in the organization of a psychosis and breaks in continuity leading to "psychotic depression." When the self is sufficiently organized, this same situation can lead to antisocial tendencies. Winnicott's "primitive agony" can be compared to the "black hole" of autism described by Frances Tustin.

In these cases, therefore, the recollection of infantile trauma is not to be found in memory traces of the event but in the subject's anguished sense of fragility.

Bibliography

Winnicott, Donald W. (1974). Fear of breakdown. International Review of Psychoanalysis, 1, 103-107.

—DENYS RIBAS

A price movement through an identified level of support, which is usually followed by heavy volume and sharp declines. Technical traders will short sell the underlying asset when the price of the security breaks below a support level because it is a clear indication that the bears are in control and that additional selling pressure is likely to follow.

Investopedia Says:
Technical tools such as moving averages, trendlines and chart patterns are the most common methods for technical traders to identify strong areas of support. The chart above shows that a trader will enter into a short position when the price breaks below an area of support (the thick dark line), which has been identified by using a head and shoulders chart pattern.

A breakdown is the bearish counterpart of a breakout.

Related Links:
Learn how to capitalize on the predictable behavior of others during breakouts and breakdowns. Trading Failed Breaks
Adopt a sound exit strategy based on support and resistance levels while understanding the market psychology behind them. Trade On Support For The Best Exit Strategy
Learn how to short this reversal pattern with a favorable risk/reward ratio. Tales From The Trenches: The Rising Wedge Breakdown
A thorough understanding of these can help you locate important entry/exit points when the markets make the turn northward. Support and Resistance Zones - Part 1
In this the second part of the study of Support and Resistance Zones, let's look closer at overhead supply and draw some of the human emotion of investing into the equation. Support and Resistance Zones - Part 2

IN BRIEF: Failure to work properly.

To help avoid a car breakdown, I change the engine oil and check the tires regularly.

Tutor's tip: The paramedics had to "break down" (destroy) the door after the old man had a breakdown (human collapse).

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

1. sudden appearance of disease in an individual or herd/flock in which immunity had previously appeared adequate. The term is used especially in relation to breakdowns after vaccination, e.g. classical swine fever (hog cholera), infectious avian laryngotracheitis, erysipelas. Also in individual animals which harbor inactive lesions which suddenly break down or metastasize and cause widespread lesions, e.g. in tuberculosis, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia.
2. acute onset of lameness in a racing horse.

For a list of words related to breakdown, see:

• Chemical Properties and Reactions - breakdown: decomposition into composite elements or molecules
• Dances of the World - breakdown: lively folk or jazz dance
• Order, Hierarchy, and Systems - breakdown: classification into categories
• Agitation, Abnormality, and Instability - breakdown: physical, mental, or nervous collapse; nervous breakdown

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See words rhyming with "breakdown."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Breakdown.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - haveri, maskinskade

Nederlands (Dutch)
inzinking, instorting, panne, analyse

Français (French)
n. - insuccès, échec, rupture, écroulement, arrêt complet, détérioration, délabrement, (Aut) panne, analyse, décomposition, répartition, classement, (Élec) claquage, (Chim) dissociation

Deutsch (German)
n. - Zusammenbruch, Panne

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - βλάβη, πλήρης διακοπή, κατάρρευση, κλονισμός, εξάντληση, λεπτομερής ανάλυση

Italiano (Italian)
esaurimento, guasto

Português (Portuguese)
n. - avaria (f)

idioms:

• nervous breakdown    colapso (m) nervoso

Русский (Russian)
срыв, поломка

idioms:

• nervous breakdown    нервный срыв

Español (Spanish)
n. - depresión nerviosa, avería

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - sammanbrott, kollaps, (maskin)haveri

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
崩溃, 故障

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 崩潰, 故障

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 파괴, 분석

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 故障, 衰弱, 分類, 決裂, 崩壊

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) انهيار, تعطل, عطل, تحليل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קלקול, התמוטטות, פירוט, ניתוח‬

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