broken down meaning: definition, quotations

broken down

adjalso spelled broken-down

No longer in working order; broken.

Of a horse, no longer useful for work or riding due to illness or infirmity.

Ruined in character or strength.

We looked our last upon them and the indescribable rosy glow in which they lay, and then with hearts far too heavy for words we left them, and crept thence broken-down men - so broken down that we even renounced the chance of practically immortal life, because all that made life valuable had gone from us, and we knew even then that to prolong our days indefinitely would only be to prolong our sufferings.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Separated into component parts; decomposed; disassembled; deconstructed.

adj

Which has broken down and, as a result, is no longer in working order.

And a broken-down train and the severe weather temporarily shut the line between Dawlish and Exeter St Davids.2021 December 29, Stefanie Foster, “Storm Barra causes fresh disruption to the railway”, in RAIL, number 947, page 19:

Not properly maintained; neglected.

Ruined in character or strength.

We looked our last upon them and the indescribable rosy glow in which they lay, and then with hearts far too heavy for words we left them, and crept thence broken-down men - so broken down that we even renounced the chance of practically immortal life, because all that made life valuable had gone from us, and we knew even then that to prolong our days indefinitely would only be to prolong our sufferings.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC: