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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1
as in tailspin
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in collapse
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of meltdown
Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 27 Oct. 2025
Giants’ epic fourth-quarter meltdown in 33-32 loss in Denver last week doesn’t erase the boost from QB Jaxson Dart or how competitive Biggies have been.
—Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
Beyond its seemingly cinematic plot, the robbery was a clear example of how thieves have started targeting cultural institutions not necessarily for their prized paintings, but for artifacts that can be dismantled, stripped or melted down for their expensive parts.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for meltdown
Verb
And the government has warned of a holiday travel meltdown.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 27 Oct. 2025
Giants’ epic fourth-quarter meltdown in 33-32 loss in Denver last week doesn’t erase the boost from QB Jaxson Dart or how competitive Biggies have been.
—Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
The commissioner’s comments come as conservatives continue to melt down over the selection of the Puerto Rican superstar.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
Beyond its seemingly cinematic plot, the robbery was a clear example of how thieves have started targeting cultural institutions not necessarily for their prized paintings, but for artifacts that can be dismantled, stripped or melted down for their expensive parts.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for meltdown
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meltdown
Verb
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Here was the first sign that Yorgos Lanthimos had cracked the code on Colin Farrell.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
-
The earth stretched flat in every direction, almost to the horizon—a pale, cracked crust, vaguely lunar.—
AFAR Media,
AFAR Media,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The torrent of billion-dollar investment announcements related to artificial intelligence has raised fears that the economy is sitting on a bubble that, if popped, could send it into a tailspin.—
Rob Wile,
NBC news,
17 Oct. 2025
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Because if this tailspin continues, the offseason changes within the organization could be wide-reaching.—
Jeff Zrebiec,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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One is if the Democratic turnout collapse that defined 2024 repeats itself—particularly in Passaic County, where anger over the Biden Administration’s handling of Gaza kept many Muslim voters home.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
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By the early 2000s, overfishing was rampant, fishing became the most dangerous job in America and our oceans were on the brink of collapse.—
Amanda Leland,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Ever since Bad Bunny was announced as the Super Bowl LX halftime headliner in September, there has been a far-right freak-out.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
22 Oct. 2025
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But that possibility is literally dynamited in a vision Daria has of the home abruptly blown to smithereens, the destruction replayed in slo-mo to the crashing squeals of early Pink Floyd, itself a collapse of psychedelic rock’s utopian ideals into acid-casualty freak-out.—
Jake Cole,
IndieWire,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The floods have also left 11 people missing, inundated more than 116,000 houses and 5,000 hectares of crops, and damaged roads and railways, cutting off traffic and power in several areas, the government’s disaster agency said in a report.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
31 Oct. 2025
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Desmond McKenzie, deputy chair of Jamaica's disaster risk management council, declined to share how many people have died, although authorities separately told AP at least four deaths occurred in southwest Jamaica.—
Elizabeth Howell,
Space.com,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Lane is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
31 Oct. 2025
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Boy Brian Wilson’s attempts to complete the album Smile in the aftermath of a nervous breakdown while dealing with schizophrenia.—
Richard Newby,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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As one of Stephen King‘s scariest pieces of IP gets the HBO Max series treatment, the bloodbath has commenced with the first episode.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
29 Oct. 2025
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Many in the consultant class recall how Democrats’ political bloodbath in 2010 was predicated on Republicans demonizing Nancy Pelosi, who was House Speaker at the time.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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During the previous school year, the boy strangled and choked a teacher and pulled up a female classmate’s dress and touched her inappropriately on the school playground, the lawsuit claims.—
Cindy Von Quednow,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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The figure of Achilles, a warrior who singlehandedly choked a river with dead enemies before taking on the river god himself, provided a model for Alexander the Great and persists in contemporary popular entertainment, political speech, and military culture in celebrations of shock and awe.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Meltdown.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meltdown. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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