ˈbɹeɪkdaʊn dɪsləʊˈkeɪʃən dɪsˈɹʌpʃən dɪsˈɹʌpʃən the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue the social dislocations resulting from government policies his warning came after the breakdown of talks in London an event that results in a displacement or discontinuity a displacement of a part (especially a bone) from its normal position (as in the shoulder or the vertebral column)