meltdown
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: compound
Topics: business
finance
human-sciences
psychology
sciences
Etymology: From melt (verb) + down (adverb), a deverbal from melt down (verb).
Compound parts: melt#Verb
down#Adverb
Inflected forms:
form: meltdowns
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: An act or process of melting.
pos: noun
tags: countable
gloss: An act or process of melting.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: 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.
gloss: A mass of melted material.
pos: noun
tags: countable
rare
gloss: Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: uncontrolled disorder which often has disastrous consequences; (countable) a situation involving this; a crisis.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
uncountable
examples: 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; […]
gloss: Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: uncontrolled disorder which often has disastrous consequences; (countable) a situation involving this; a crisis.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
gloss: (Sudden) loss of control over one's behaviour, emotions, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
informal
gloss: (Sudden) loss of control over one's behaviour, emotions, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
informal
examples: 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.
If you're experiencing challenges that are extremely stressful and may lead you to being overwhelmed, or set off a meltdown in the workplace, this may be very concerning to your work colleagues.
gloss: (Sudden) loss of control over one's behaviour, emotions, etc.; (countable) an instance of this.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
informal
examples: I had a major meltdown at work today. After being instructed one more time about additional work that I was to delegate to my direct reports, I snapped, but in a very polite manner. I excused myself from the boss' office and broke down completely in my cubicle.
After the huntsman raced across my windscreen, I had an arachnophobic meltdown on the side of the road.
Related words: melt down
China syndrome
Derived words: gypsy meltdown
market meltdown
melty
mutational meltdown
nuclear meltdown
techno-meltdown
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: стопя́ване
roman: stopjávane
lang: Finnish
word: sulaminen
lang: Bulgarian
word: и́зблик
roman: ízblik
lang: Bulgarian
word: при́стъп
roman: prístǎp
lang: Finnish
word: purkaus
lang: Finnish
word: räjähdys