melt down 1 of 2

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

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meltdown

2 of 2

noun

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 meltdown
Verb
Avoiding another meltdown may not be the goal. R. Eric Thomas, Denver Post, 7 Sep. 2025 The cancellations left travelers stranded, most notably during the summer of 2022 and the holiday meltdown that same year. AFAR Media, 5 Sep. 2025
Noun
Naturally, Swiftopia is melting down over the possibility over what this could mean. Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 11 Aug. 2025 But over the weekend, as the world refused to move on from his administration’s bizarre handling of the Epstein files—which has led segments of his base to completely melt down—Trump went on a posting spree that was alarming, even by his own standards. Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 22 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for meltdown
Recent Examples of Synonyms for meltdown
Verb
  • Even some of the most successful K-pop artists in America have yet to crack one of Billboard’s radio lists, or to land a major win.
    Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Thanks to the flaw, the hackers were able to crack the credentials and gain administrative privileges to accounts on Ascension’s Microsoft Active Directory server, which can be harnessed to manage user accounts and applications over a company’s network.
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • But modern-day challenges have forced leaders into a tailspin and turned leadership into a losing game.
    Dr. Adil Dalal, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • The potential appointment of Stephen Miran , a Trump nominee who has his Senate Banking Committee hearing scheduled on Sept. 4, could also throw Wall Street into a tailspin next week.
    Sarah Min, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Crypto bubbles lead to crypto collapses.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Despite those gains, the group still recorded a net loss of $517 million, largely due to the collapse of the Capri acquisition and a write-down at Kate Spade.
    Kate Hardcastle, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • 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
  • The dog remained unfazed during Fowler's minor freak-out.
    Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
Noun
  • Bureau staff were told the group itself, already gutted as part of mass layoffs at the State Department in July, would refocus on migration diplomacy and disaster response rather than its traditional refugee focus.
    Ted Hesson, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025
  • That question frames an episode that opens not with battle, but with the kind of stillness that comes before disaster.
    JP Mangalindan, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • That character is Mike Tyler (Chris Evans), a Hollywood star recovering from a recent nervous breakdown and attending a garish eco-friendly charity party for the super-super-rich that’s being held in a fantastically austere Greek mine.
    Damon Wise, Deadline, 13 Sep. 2025
  • One powerful scene in episode 2 shows Knox having a nervous breakdown when she is taken back to the scene of the crime and asked to open the knife drawer in the kitchen to determine if any are missing in an effort to locate the murder weapon.
    Nicole Briese, People.com, 23 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • There is one hint of the bloodbath to come, as the film opens in Osaka, where a yakuza boss insists that three of his men chop off a digit of their hands in order to prove their loyalty.
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 8 Sep. 2025
  • What’s most impressive is how On the Road turns a boilerplate genre scenario — and one that doesn’t skimp on a bloodbath at the end — into a movie that grows increasingly emotional as things get exponentially worse for its main characters.
    Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In the clip, the pair execute the moves to the song’s post-chorus, before a bonnet-wearing Colbert pretends to choke on something, causing Gaga to erupt in laughter.
    Stephen Daw, Billboard, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Luckily, the police department had recently brought in a CPR specialist who taught officers how to save choking children.
    Abigail Adams, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Meltdown.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/meltdown. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

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