broken-down

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Related to broken-down: broke down

bro·ken-down

(brō′kən-doun′)

adj.

1. Not in working order.

2. In poor condition, as from old age; infirm.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

broken-down

adj

1. worn out, as by age or long use; dilapidated: a broken-down fence.

2. not in working order: a broken-down tractor.

3. (Medicine) physically or mentally ill

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bro′ken-down′

adj.

1. dilapidated or infirm, as from age.

2. out of working order, as from use or age.

[1810–20]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	broken-down - in deplorable condition; "a street of bedraggled tenements"; "a broken-down fence"; "a ramshackle old pier"; "a tumble-down shack" dilapidated, ramshackle, tumble-down, tatterdemalion, bedraggled, derelict damaged - harmed or injured or spoiled; "I won't buy damaged goods"; "the storm left a wake of badly damaged buildings"
	2.	broken-down - not in working order; "had to push the broken-down car"; "a broken-down tractor fit only for children to play on" unserviceable - not ready for service; "unserviceable equipment may be replaced"

broken-down

adjective not in working order, old, worn out, out of order, dilapidated, not functioning, out of commission, on the blink (slang), inoperative, kaput (informal), in disrepair, on the fritz (U.S. slang) a broken-down car

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

broken-down

adjective

Showing signs of wear and tear or neglect:

bedraggled, decaying, decrepit, dilapidated, dingy, down-at-heel, faded, mangy, rundown, scrubby, scruffy, seedy, shabby, shoddy, sleazy, tattered, tatty, threadbare.

Informal: tacky.

Slang: ratty.

Idioms: all the worse for wear, gone to pot, past cure.

Translations

broken-down

[ˈbrəʊkənˈdaʊn] ADJ [machine, car] → averiado, estropeado, descompuesto (Mex); [house] → destartalado, desvencijado

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

broken-down

[ˈbrəʊk/ənˈdaʊn] adj (car) → in panne, rotto/a; (machine) → guasto/a, fuori uso; (house) → abbandonato/a, in rovina

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

She must have looked ghostly enough, that broken-down steamer, rolling in that snowstorm - a dark apparition in a world of white snowflakes to the staring eyes of that whaler's crew.

View in context

I've been down in the mire for years, an utter scoundrel, a poor, weak, broken-down creature.

View in context

Some poor, broken-down horses, whose mouths have been made hard and insensible by just such drivers as these, may, perhaps, find some support in it; but for a horse who can depend upon his own legs, and who has a tender mouth and is easily guided, it is not only tormenting, but it is stupid.

View in context

There are men, too--wretched busybodies--who walk about merely to see if they can find some wretched tchinovnik or broken-down official who has got toes projecting from his boots or his hair uncut!

View in context

A DAD'S terrifying 999 call captured the moment his family feared for their lives after their broken-down car was hit by a lorry on the M6.

Dad's M6 999 terror; NEWS WIRE

A BROKEN-down tanker caused delays of up to two hours on the M62 yesterday.

Breakdown causes huge M62 delays; IN BRIEF

Tubular objects were among the items removed from the broken-down truck that had "danger" stickers pasted on it, as uniformed servicemen and local police stood guard.

Suspicious objects spotted

Members of the 163 Coventry Phoenix Air Cadets at their base in Canley with their broken-down bus

Air cadets bid to get new minibus

A BROKEN-DOWN car brought A66 traffic to a standstill.

Car woes cause big road jams

A trucker and a coach passenger both died in the accident, which happened when a lorry smashed into the back of Jasminder Singh Dhesi's broken-down vehicle on the M5 southbound carriageway in Worcestershire on March 24 last year.