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CPS HSAT Vocabulary · Tier 3

breakdown

noun

Definition

a failure to function

In a sentence

The car had a breakdown on the highway.

Similar words

  • malfunction

Why this word matters: breakdown appears in academic reading at the 8th-grade level and is exactly the type of word that shows up on the CPS HSAT Reading section. Practice it in context with our spaced-repetition system at vocabulary.