BREAKDOWN • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Breakdown

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/brˈeɪkdˌaʊn/ Listen

noun

Breakdown n.

The act or result of breaking down, as of a carriage; downfall.

(a)

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.

(b)

Any rude, noisy dance performed by shuffling the feet, usually by one person at a time. (U.S.) "Don't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are going to have a breakdown to wind up with."

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Etymology of 'Breakdown'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Breakdown" Quotes from Famous Books

... must have heard of Lucas's breakdown, and equally, of course, he must have seen them both. What happened at that interview, by what casual attitude he allayed Lucas's probable jealousy and the girl's own nervousness, Bassett had no way of discovering. It was clear that he convinced them both of his good ...

— The Breaking Point • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... 13. Nervous breakdown. Epilepsy. Tumor or break in brain. Cranial neuralgia. Disease of neck bones. Adenoids. Ear disease. Eye strain. ...

— Camping For Boys • H.W. Gibson

... expression in the lovely Iberian Zarzuela.[EN28] The boy Husayn Gennah, a small cyclops in a brown felt calotte and a huge military overcoat cut short, caused roars of laughter by his ultra-Gaditanian style of dancing. I have also reason to suspect that a jig and a breakdown tested the solidity of the plank table, while a Jew's harp represented Europe. In fact, throughout the journey, reminiscences of Mabille and the Music Halls contrasted strongly with the memories of majestic and mysterious Midian. And, to make the shock ...

— The Land of Midian, Vol. 1 • Richard Burton

... impossible at any time," replied Mrs. Burton, "and I shall be only too thankful if he will stay for a while because of poor father. Oh, Katherine, I am afraid this long terrible winter has killed him'" she said, with a quiver of breakdown in her voice. ...

— A Countess from Canada - A Story of Life in the Backwoods • Bessie Marchant

... Dabney discovered that he was computing, at the doctor's request, sundry arithmetical results, which might with greater propriety have been reserved for his "examination." That, too, was the way poor Dick Lee came to make so bad a breakdown. His shining face would have told, even to eyes less practised than those of Dr. Brandegee, exactly the answer, as to kind and readiness, which he would have made to every question put to his white friends. That is, unless he had been directly called upon to "answer out ...

— Dab Kinzer - A Story of a Growing Boy • William O. Stoddard

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