breakdown in communication
2
3.8
- noun
:
fallo en la comunicación
- The numbers in table 3 detail a breakdown in communication between August and September 1779, suggesting that the numbers of reported deaths for those months are unreliable and likely low.
Examples
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During the project, there was a significant breakdown in communication that led to confusion among team members.
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My inexperience in dealing with clients, combined with the client's ignorance of all things digital, led to a perpetual breakdown in communication, and the deadline was missed.
Blog text (1) -
There is a real breakdown in communication.
Blog text (32) -
When there is a breakdown in communication, there is a good chance that the fear of communicating goes both ways.
Blog text (21) -
This was a breakdown in communication between colleagues in the hospital not passing on information to each other.
Academic text (2016) -
I just feel like there there's some kind of breakdown in communication between these two.
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There were weaknesses in the marriage before, and from talking to him, it was an obvious breakdown in communication.
Blog text (19) -
From the outset, there was considerable breakdown in communications both along the chain of command and in the coordination of ground operations.
Academic text (1991) -
Blunt, a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, said there appeared to have been a breakdown in communication between the intelligence community and the Obama administration leading up to, during, and after the Benghazi attack.
Blog text (19) -
If, in such conditions, state contracts are rejected or their share in the economy is drastically reduced, this will lead to a breakdown in communications, to even greater imbalances, and a sharp drop in output in many spheres.
Academic text (1991)
Synonyms
58
5.9
A gap between what people think and what really happens
23
4.1
A failure to share information clearly that causes misunderstanding
9
2.8
Not enough talking or sharing of information between people
A lack of talking or sharing information between people
How Effective
1
2.5
2
3.8
23
4.1
243
1.6
389
1.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
breakdown + in + communication
The meaning 'a failure to exchange information' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'breakdown' (failure/collapse) with 'in communication' (within the activity of exchanging information). This is a regular compositional pattern (noun + prepositional phrase) and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Breakdown in communication comes from the image of a machine or phone line that suddenly stops working, where a breakdown means a failure and communication is the sharing of information. So, it means 'a failure to exchange information' or 'a misunderstanding'.