Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Breakdown

Breakdown ({not transcribed}) , noun

1.
The act or result of breaking down, as of a carriage; downfall.
2.
(a) A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of persons or pairs in succession, as among the colored people of the Southern United States, and so called, perhaps, because the exercise is continued until most of those who take part in it break down.
(b)
Any rude, noisy dance performed by shuffling the feet, usually by one person at a time. [United States]
Don't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are going to have a breakdown to wind up with. — New Eng. Tales