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Breakdown vs Build - What's the difference?

breakdown | build |

As nouns the difference between breakdown and build

is that breakdown is a failure, particularly mechanical; something that has failed while build is (senseid) the physique of a human body; constitution or structure of a human body.

As a verb build is

(lb) to form (something) by combining materials or parts.

breakdown

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A failure, particularly mechanical; something that has failed
    • We saw a breakdown by the side of the road.
  • A physical collapse or lapse of mental stability
    • After so much stress, he suffered a breakdown and simply gave up.
  • Listing, division or categorization in great detail
    • ''Looking at the breakdown of the budget, I see a few items we could cut.
  • (chemistry) Breaking of chemical bonds within a compound to produce simpler compounds or elements.
  • A musical technique, by where the music is stripped down, becoming simpler, and can vary in heaviness depending on the genre.
  • * 1992 , En Vogue, My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It) (song)
    • And now it's time for a breakdown !
  • (sports) A loss of organization (of the parts of a system).
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=September 18 , author=Ben Dirs , title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Georgia, ranked 16th in the world, dominated the breakdown before half-time and forced England into a host of infringements, but fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili missed three penalties.}}
  • (US, dated) A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of persons or pairs in succession, as among the blacks of the southern United States.
  • (US, dated) Any crude, noisy dance performed by shuffling the feet, usually by one person at a time.
  • * (rfdate) New Eng. Tales
    • Don't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are going to have a breakdown to wind up with.
  • (US) Any rapid bluegrass dance tune, especially featuring a five-string banjo.
    • Foggy Mountain 'Breakdown'
  • * 1893 , (Mark Twain) "The Californian's Tale", in (1906)
    • Towards nine the three miners said that as they had brought their instruments they might as well tune up, for the boys and girls would soon be arriving now, and hungry for a good old fashioned breakdown . A fiddle, a banjo, and a clarinet - these were the instruments.
  • *
  • *
  • * {{quote-book, ???, title=Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N' Roses, page=102,
    • books.google.com/books?isbn=1592403778, author=Stephen Davis, year=2008, passage=Izzy lays down some big chords while Slash plays the song's banjo breakdown of a theme.}}
  • *
  • *

    • Synonyms

    * (musical technique) degradation

    Derived terms

    * breakdown lorry / breakdown truck * breakdown point * nervous breakdown

    See also

    * break it down

    build

    English

    Verb

  • (lb) To form (something) by combining materials or parts.
  • *
  • *:Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. No omnibus, cab, or conveyance ever built could contain a young man in such a rage. His mother lived at Pembridge Square, which is four good measured miles from Lincoln's Inn.
  • *
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well.}}
  • To develop or give form to (something) according to a plan or process.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
    • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you
  • (lb) To increase or strengthen (something) by adding gradually to.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
  • (lb) To establish a basis for (something).
  • (lb) To form by combining materials or parts.
  • (lb) To develop in magnitude or extent.

    • Usage notes

    * The simple past tense and past participle used to be builded; however, that form is now archaic, having been superseded by the form .

    Synonyms

    * (to form by combining materials or parts) construct, erect * (to develop or give form to according to a plan or process) create * (to increase or strengthen by adding gradually to) build up, enlarge, increase, strengthen * (to establish a basis for) base, found, ground

    Antonyms

    * (to form by combining materials or parts) demolish, destroy, ruin, wreck * (to increase or strengthen by adding gradually to) decrease, dissipate, weaken

    Derived terms

    * build a fire under * build castles in the air * build in * build into * build on * build on sand * build-to * build up * build upon * prebuild

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (senseid) The physique of a human body; constitution or structure of a human body.
    • Rugby players are of sturdy build .
  • (computing) any of various versions of a software product as it is being developed for release to users
    • The computer company has introduced a new prototype build to beta testers.
  • (Internet slang) a structure, nominally an abbreviation of building (see usage notes below).
    • I made a build that looked like the Parthenon in that game.

    Usage notes

    * As internet slang, although the word is nominally an abbreviation of "building", the slang term can refer to any structure or formation created by the player e.g. a statue, a pool, or even a forest.