melt down 1 of 2

verb

Definition of melt downnext
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

Relevance

meltdown

2 of 2

noun

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 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
Due to this, silver was often cut into smaller pieces or melted down. — Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026 Gossip blogger Perez Hilton was reportedly treated for a drug overdose after melting down during a livestream that caused concerns of self-harm. — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 14 Aug. 2026
Noun
America’s cost-of-living concerns and a bond market meltdown aren’t functions of a sputtering economy that’s running out of gas. — David Goldman, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026 The Phillies also must try and prove their late-September meltdown was nothing but a blip in a long and successful October. — CBS News, 28 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for melt down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melt down
  1. crack
  2. tailspin
  3. collapse
  4. choke
  5. freak-out
  6. disaster
  7. break down
  8. nervous breakdown
Verb
  • Remember earlier this summer when Sophie Cunningham got her teeth cracked by an elbow and no foul was called?
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • In the close quarters of the boat, the family’s fragile equilibrium, long organised around his volatility, begins to crack.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of crack
Noun
  • The biggest takeaway from the season was that too much change in such a short amount of time is a good way to throw a team into a tailspin.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 27 Sep. 2026
  • With the Hollywood studio system headed for a tailspin, could now be the time for midnight movies to come out of the dark and into the marquee lights?
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of tailspin
Noun
  • Two weeks into fighting, the unforgiving mountainous terrain, heavy Saudi and government air power, and a reenergized anti-Houthi coalition have kept the Houthi advance in check, preventing a collapse on the level of that in mid-September.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 4 Oct. 2026
  • While the exact time of the collapse is unknown, the Volcanoes National Park team said on social media Thursday that the arch was still standing on Wednesday, September 23, when the park was temporarily closed during Tropical Storm Nolo.
    — Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of collapse
Verb
  • There is a fear that a company will be forced to dilute shareholders or choke itself with expensive debt to build factories to fulfill orders.
    — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The woman denied the allegations, and Ross hit her in the chest several times, the report says, and choked her, restricting her breathing by twisting the collar of her hoodie.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of choke
Noun
  • The Derby’s question is quite often decided by whichever colt or filly has the racing focus and the strength not to succumb to his or her ambient freak-out.
    — Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • Even so, the nation’s collective freak-out should serve as a wake-up call to both the food industry and regulators.
    — Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
Definition of freak-out
Noun
  • Although major questions remained unanswered on Thursday about the attacker and his motive, the story of ordinary passengers saving the FlyDubai flight from disaster has quickly become the stuff of legend.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Second were unarmed passengers who subdued the armed attacker before one pulled back on the yoke to level the aircraft, drawing on knowledge from an air-disaster documentary.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of disaster
Verb
  • When Charles breaks down inside the brothel, how much of it was about Adam versus Cathy?
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
  • The fighting represents the sharpest escalation since a 2022 ceasefire between the Houthis, Yemen’s government and Saudi Arabia broke down in July.
    — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of break down
Noun
  • Gloria Steinem attributed her mother's nervous breakdown before she was born, and her treatment in mental institutions and the workforce thereafter, as key to her interest in social injustices.
    — Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2026
  • In 1944 her parents divorced, and 10-year-old Gloria was left to take care of her mother, a once-promising journalist who struggled to combine her work with running a household and who eventually suffered a nervous breakdown.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of nervous breakdown

Browse Nearby Words

melt (away)
melt down
meltdown
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Melt down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melt%20down. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of discreet

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All