- 1故障的；破舊不堪的
A broken-down car will not go. A broken-down washing machine sits there dead. The word also covers things that still exist but are in a sad state: a broken-down shed, a broken-down old hotel. With people and animals it can sound if you are not careful: a broken-down old boxer is someone worn out, used up. You can hear a little pity in it, or a little scorn, depending on the voice. It comes from the verb break down: a machine breaks down, and then it is broken-down. Notice the and the -en: we do not say a break-down car. Though actually, breakdown without a is a different word again — a breakdown is the event (a breakdown on the ; a nervous breakdown). Broken-down is the state after.
broken-down 可以形容壞掉、停著不能動的機器，例如「a broken-down washing machine」，洗衣機就那樣停在那裡。它也用來形容還在、但狀況很糟的東西，像一間破舊的小屋。用在人或動物身上時要小心，像「a broken-down old boxer」指累壞、被用盡的老拳擊手，語氣裡可能有一點憐憫，也可能有輕視，要看說話的語氣。它來自片語動詞 break down，所以寫成 broken-down。
組成broken (the -en form of break) + down. The hyphen glues them into one adjective.
同家族的字
- break downthe phrasal verb: a machine breaks down, then it is broken-down
- breakdownthe noun for the event, not the state
原始詞典資料3 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
broken-downadj
- 1
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.
- 2
Not properly maintained; neglected.
- 3
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.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。