Definition of "break down" []

• Alternative form of breakdown. (noun)
• To fail, to cease to function (verb)
• To render or to become unstable due to stress, to collapse physically or mentally (verb)
• To render or to become weak and ineffective (verb)
• (to cause) to decay, to decompose (verb)

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• "People with the RR genotype have two copies of the R variant of the PON1 gene, producing a PON1 enzyme that is more resistant to pesticide exposure because the enzyme helps to break down and eliminate pesticides from the body."
• "Researchers looked at blood samples taken from these women and measured them for levels of an enzyme known as paraoxonase 1, or PON1, which is able to break down the toxic metabolites of organophosphate pesticides."
• "During a tense scene between her character, Cathy Jamison, who has Stage 4 melanoma, and her bipolar brother, Sean, played by John Benjamin Hickey, she makes her costar break down in giggles."