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
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of melt down
Alex Morris, Rolling Stone, 19 Mar. 2026
Additionally, in the past year, board members have spent countless hours searching for a permanent CPS superintendent only to watch the process melt down as applicants withdrew their names and CTU and the mayor meddled.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 11 Mar. 2026
Lamond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 29 Mar. 2026
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is tightening rules for token issuers and providers of liquidity on the platform following criticism of digital-asset market practices during October’s market meltdown.
—Muyao Shen, Bloomberg, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for melt down
Verb
The biggest lick, or score, was often jewelry, gold pieces that the woman could melt down into untraceable bars the length and width of a credit card, the thickness of a bar of chocolate.
—Alex Morris, Rolling Stone, 19 Mar. 2026
Additionally, in the past year, board members have spent countless hours searching for a permanent CPS superintendent only to watch the process melt down as applicants withdrew their names and CTU and the mayor meddled.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 11 Mar. 2026
Noun
And then came the eighth-inning meltdown.
—Lamond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 29 Mar. 2026
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is tightening rules for token issuers and providers of liquidity on the platform following criticism of digital-asset market practices during October’s market meltdown.
—Muyao Shen, Bloomberg, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for melt down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melt down
Verb
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Modern encryption uses math equations that would take conventional computers trillions of years to crack.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Now cosmologists in the international Collaboration for Observations, Models and Predictions of Anomalies and Cosmic Topology (COMPACT) have pushed, and the tidy picture is cracking.—
Paul M. Sutter,
Scientific American,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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With the documentary world in a financial tailspin, and network news facing new threats under the FCC, movies about movies that once would’ve disgusted me suddenly feel like essential bursts of self-awareness.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
20 Mar. 2026
-
At the story’s start Mathilda happens upon a new Transfixion, the obscure Black modernist poet Hermia Druitt, who sends her into a tailspin unlike any who came before.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The Bulls have been careening toward this turning point in the season since the trade deadline, which kickstarted a 5-16 collapse as the front office (temporarily) gave up on the postseason.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Mar. 2026
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The team had the best record in the major leagues as recently as June 13 of last season before collapsing and missing the postseason — a collapse that still stings for fans.—
Ryan Brennan,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This time, Carr’s freak-out was an attempt to stretch the FCC’s equal-time rules to apply to talk shows — both late night and daytime.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
23 Jan. 2026
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For now, though, Chang is in her bubble up north and witnessing most of the freak-outs remotely and not in person.—
Jessica Radloff,
Glamour,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Hefty extra wattage is apparently needed to keep the Mar-a-Lago lights on in the event of an unforeseen disaster such as a war, or flying sports court glass, or a late ketchup delivery.—
Pat Beall,
Sun Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Only instead of the flood of a players’ strike, this time the disaster will come cloaked in the fire of an owners’ lockout.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
When their news anchor (Peter Finch) has a nervous breakdown on the air, suddenly their ratings turn around, bringing on a moral morass only some of them are prepared to face.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2026
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Mostly because Kiesling’s voice is delightful, and this chronicle of Daphne—a young mother-intellectual on the verge of a nervous breakdown—is open-hearted and unsparing about the work that goes into balancing infant care with day job.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Billy Randolph had shaped them and how his death had altered their lives, responses came after long pauses and were choked with grief.—
Emerson Clarridge
Updated March 27,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
28 Mar. 2026
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Or perhaps the team was shellshocked by the Netflix spectacle that delayed the game 20-something minutes and choked the field with fireworks smoke.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Although extremely rare, a condition called rhabdomyolysis can occur when your kidneys are overwhelmed with particles from muscle breakdown and can cause permanent kidney damage.—
Brad Stulberg,
Outside,
26 Mar. 2026
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As rising global temperatures threaten the polar ice floes, loud and previously-unknown sounds from the breakdown of ice are becoming more frequent, impacting polar ecosystems.—
Andrew Coletti,
Popular Science,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Melt down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melt%20down. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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