n. 1. The act or result of breaking down, as of a carriage; downfall.
2. A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of persons or pairs in succession, as among the colored people of the Southern United States, and so called, perhaps, because the exercise is continued until most of those who take part in it break down.
Don't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are going to have a breakdown to wind up with.
Noun 1. breakdown - the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue; "the social dislocations resulting from government policies"; "his warning came after the breakdown of talks in London"
3. breakdown - a cessation of normal operation; "there was a power breakdown"