Link Centre Dictionary

meltdown

melt·down

UK/ˈmɛltdaʊn/ US/ˈmɛltdawn/ fairly common informal

noun

1.

severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and radiation escaping

Synonyms
2.

a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown

  • “there is little likelihood of a meltdown comparable to the American banking collapse in March 1933”

Origin

From melt (verb) + down (adverb), a deverbal from melt down (verb).

Phrases

  • China syndrome
  • gypsy meltdown
  • market meltdown
  • melt down
  • mutational meltdown
  • nuclear meltdown

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.