Okuzeka
Mechanical Engineering vocabulary · Maintenance and Reliability

Break down

Meaning in mechanical engineering, with examples

phrasal verbCore term

In mechanical engineering, break down means: To stop working because of a fault. It is used for machines and vehicles; the noun breakdown means a failure that stops the equipment.

In Turkish: arızalanmak, bozulmak, arıza yapmak

How it is used

Very common in everyday maintenance talk, reports and shift handovers. Machines break down, and teams respond to breakdowns and try to prevent them. The noun is one word (breakdown), the verb two (break down). Breakdown maintenance means repairing only after a failure.

Example sentences

  1. Line 3 breaks down almost every week because of the same valve.

  2. The breakdown of the main pump stopped production for six hours.

  3. If the compressor breaks down at night, call the on-call technician.

Common collocations

  • break down completely
  • machine breakdown
  • breakdown maintenance
  • frequent breakdowns
  • failureThe state in which a part or machine can no longer do its job, for example because it has cracked, worn out, leaked or stopped working.
  • downtimeThe time when a machine or production line is not working because of a breakdown, maintenance, a changeover or a lack of material.
  • troubleshootTo find the cause of a problem in a machine or system step by step and fix it, for example by checking signals, parts and settings one after another.
  • spare partA replacement part kept in stock so that a worn or broken part can be changed quickly, for example a bearing, seal, belt or motor.
  • MTBFShort for mean time between failures: the average operating time between one failure of a repairable machine and the next. A higher MTBF means more reliable equipment.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Maintenance and Reliability

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: