1. break down破坏， 毁掉； 破除；制服；坍塌， 坏掉；（计划等）失败， 破裂；（健康、精神）崩溃；分解

Who broke down the doors of our classroom? 谁把我们教室的门打坏了？
The old rules must be broken down. 这些陈旧的规章制度必须废除。
The police tried to break down the prisoners’ opposition.警方设法制服囚犯的反抗。
Because of explosion the bridge broke down last night. 由于爆炸， 昨夜这座桥倒塌了。
Your plan has broken down. What a pity! 你的计划失败了， 真遗憾！
After a long time of hard work， he almost broke down. 长时间艰苦劳动之后， 他的身体几乎垮了。
Why did the peace talks break down？为什么和谈失败了？
This matter will break down in water. 这种物质在水中会分解。

2. break in破门而入， 打断
Last night a thief broke in and stole away his camera. 昨夜一个小偷闯了进来， 偷走了他的相机。
He broke in with some ideas of his own.
他插了话， 说了说自己的一些看法。
3. break into破门而入， 突然……起来
They broke into the prison and set free all the prisoners. 他们冲进监狱，释放了所有的囚犯。
Hearing the sad news， the old woman broke into tears. 听到这个悲哀的消息， 这位老年妇女突然哭了起来。
4. break out战争爆发， 争吵爆发， （火灾）发生
When did the war break out? 这场战争是什么时候爆发的？
I have heard that a quarrel broke out between them. 我听说他们之间爆发了争吵。
More than one hundred fires broke out in our city last year. 去年我市发生了一百多起火灾。

5. break away from打破陈规；奋力挣脱；放弃习惯
You must break away from these old customs. 你们必须破除这些旧风俗。
The dog broke away from its owner and ran away. 狗挣脱了主人， 跑了。
You’d better break away from the habit of smoking. 你最好改掉吸烟的习惯。
6. break through 出现，突破
It was a cloudy day， but the sun at last broke through.原本是个阴天， 不过太阳最后还是出来了。
Our soldiers successfully broke through the enemy’s defences. 我们的战士成功地突破了敌军的防线。
7. break up打碎，拆散， 分裂、分解
Let’s break up the whole into parts. 让我们化整为零。
8. break into pieces破成碎片
The mirror fell to the ground and broke into pieces. 镜子掉到地上摔成了碎片。

9. break one’s word/promise食言， 说话不算数
I believe in him， because he never breaks his word / promise. 我信任他， 因为他从来不食言。
10. break the law/rule违反法律/规章制度
Nobody can break the rules of our company. 没有人能违背我们公司的规章制度。
11. break forth突然发出， 爆发， 迸发， 发作
The crowd broke forth in cheers. 欢呼声从人群中迸发出来。
12. break in two使破成两半
When I hit the ball， my bat broke in two. 击球时我的球拍断成两截。
13. break the record打破纪录
This athlete has just broken the world record in men’s high jump. 这名运动员刚刚打破了男子跳高世界纪录。
14. break one’s heart使某人心碎， 使某人悲痛欲绝
To tell you the truth， the bad news broke my heart at that time. 说实话， 那时这个坏消息使我悲痛万分。