broken down

No longer working properly, especially when describing a machine or vehicle.

• That car is broken down.
• A broken-down bus blocked the road.
• We replaced the broken-down machine last week.

Similar words: broken, nonfunctional

Opposites: working, functional

Common phrases: broken down car, broken down machinery

Divided into smaller pieces or parts, often to make something easier to examine or move.

• The table is broken down into pieces.
• The costs were broken down by month.
• These results are broken down into age groups.

How to use it: broken down into something (The figures are broken down into three groups.); broken down by something (The costs are broken down by department.)

Similar words: divided, disassembled, decomposed

Opposites: assembled

Common phrases: broken down into parts, broken down by category

Having lost physical strength or good personal qualities.

• He seemed completely broken down.
• Years of illness left her broken down in body and spirit.
• The once proud soldier returned a broken-down man.

How to use it: broken down by something (He was broken down by years of hardship.)

Similar words: ruined, weakened, worn out

Common phrases: broken down man, broken down by grief

Too ill or weak to carry riders or do work, when describing a horse.

• The horse was broken down.
• They let the broken-down mare rest in a quiet field.
• A broken-down horse cannot safely carry a rider.

Similar words: unfit, unsound

Opposites: sound, fit

Common phrases: broken down horse, broken down mare