melt down 1 of 2

as in to crack
to yield to mental or emotional stress rather than melt down, the team strengthened their resolve and ended up winning the game

Synonyms & Similar Words

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meltdown

2 of 2

noun

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of melt down
Verb
Instead, the defense did what it's done since Super Bowl XLV — melted down at crunch time. Rob Reischel, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024 Navajo, Zuni and other Native silversmiths who took up the trade first worked in silver melted down from coins. Debra Utacia Krol, USA TODAY, 28 Nov. 2024
Noun
No injuries or adverse health effects resulted from a 1979 accidental release of radioactive gas caused by a cooling failure that led to the meltdown of one of the Three Mile Island reactors, according to the World Nuclear Association. Gary Collins, Baltimore Sun, 2 Feb. 2025 This year’s Super Bowl — to be held Feb. 9 on Fox — will anoint artificial intelligence companies and products as the new mainstream (yes, that is despite this week’s Wall Street meltdown after a Chinese AI app, DeepSeek, shook the foundations of Silicon Valley). Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for melt down 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melt down
Verb
  • Cooling completely in a closed oven will prevent it from cracking too much.
    Martin Sorge, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025
  • Men and women, cats and dogs, electrical outlets and bathtubs: each detail cracks me up.
    Roz Chast, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • But the controversy has thrown this year's Oscars race into a tailspin.
    Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2025
  • In 1895, a year after Catherine was born, Pauline died, sending the family into a tailspin.
    Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • With the collapse of U.S.A.I.D., that entire model is badly shaken.
    Declan Walsh, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2025
  • Russian space expert Vitaly Yegorov told Radio Svoboda that Borisov had stopped the collapse of the country's space sector which had been hit hard by sanctions.
    Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 8 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • No one is really disputing it, but the market freak-out hinges on the truthfulness of a single and relatively unknown company.
    CNN.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2025
  • The situation at the heart of the movie goes from bad to worse along a linear trajectory, but the horror freak-out promised by its eeriest moments never really bothers to materialize.
    David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 25 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Whether it‘s picking apart the factors that led to the chain filing for bankruptcy (and the postmortem of its endless-shrimp disaster), recruiting top talent for his C-suite, or ensuring more restaurants don’t have to close, Adamolekun has plenty of issues to bait his temper.
    Chris Morris, Fortune, 10 Feb. 2025
  • The instructions are specific, including the creation of a 24/7 emergency directory of phone numbers, including potential community partners in case of disasters such as first responders, local health departments, and other potential support groups or individuals.
    Josh Klein, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • In 2019, essayist Sarah Chihaya had a nervous breakdown that coincided with a bout of the titular anxiety disorder, which causes someone to have an intense and irrational fear of books and writing.
    Shannon Carlin, TIME, 31 Jan. 2025
  • The film has a few major plot holes, mostly concerning the present-tense family meal where Lucas seems to be having a nervous breakdown.
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 27 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • What should have been a quick conference between commanders turned into a bloodbath when Ukrainian intelligence detected the gathering—and a High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System opened fire.
    David Axe, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2024
  • The pink-slip bloodbath has hit hard on Gen X veterans in the middle-management ranks of networks, studios, talent agencies and PR firms.
    Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 14 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Lenin, a 1988 faux Fabergé egg choking on its rhinestones.
    Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
  • Per the incident report, Levin’s family members were right upstairs while he was being beaten and choked in the basement.
    Samira Asma-Sadeque, People.com, 8 Feb. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near melt down

Cite this Entry

“Melt down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melt%20down. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.

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