meltdown
/ˈmɛltˌdaʊn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.55 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: uncontrolled disorder which often has disastrous consequences; (countable) a situation involving this; a crisis.
Uncountable
noun
Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: uncontrolled disorder which often has disastrous consequences; (countable) a situation involving this; a crisis.
Countable
noun
(Sudden) loss of control over one's behaviour, emotions, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.
Countable; Informal
Example Sentences
- "Thus began by far the gravest crisis in the troubled, 32-year history of commercial atomic power. A catastrophe had occurred over the weekend at the Chernobyl plant, 80 miles north of Kiev, where a reactor meltdown and explosion caused untold death and suffering and raised the prospect of long-term health and environmental damage on a far greater scale than anything yet unleashed by peaceful nuclear use."
- "Channel 4 switchboards went into meltdown this week when viewers called to complain about a Brass Eye programme on child sex."
- "Computer engineers were at a loss last night to explain why the Government had been hit by arguably the worst electronic meltdown in the history of Whitehall."
- "If you're like me, you've looked at a paper coffee cup or an empty tube of toothpaste and thought, "Is this recyclable?" before tossing it in the recycling bin, hoping someone, somewhere, would sort it out. People in the waste management industry call this habit "wishcycling." […] [W]ishcycling is playing a big role in the current global recycling meltdown. […] Our uncertainty leads to climbing costs and waning productivity at recycling facilities; […]"
- "I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in my forties. […] Now if I am really anxious, I can take a moment to think about what is making me anxious and what to do about it; before I would just spiral into a meltdown really quickly, with no understanding of why."
- "As the brain starts becoming overwhelmed with stress chemicals, it has two primary ways of responding. […] [I]f the accumulation of stress chemicals, stimulation and/or demands are occurring too fast or are too intense to block out, then a meltdown is probable."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmɛltˌdaʊn/
- British English: /ˈmɛltdaʊn/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
gypsy meltdown
market meltdown
mutational meltdown
nuclear meltdown
techno-meltdown
melt down
China syndrome