melts down

present tense third-person singular of melt down
as in cracks
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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for melts down
Verb
  • Apple will be there waiting, sitting on a mountain of cash, ready to partner with (or outright acquire) whichever operation cracks the code.
    Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2025
  • For example, Harvard barely cracks the top 30.
    Bruno V. Manno, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • When leaves fall to the ground, the carbon stays in these leaves, breaks down, and decomposes and releases nutrients back into the soil that plants can take in.
    Saleen Martin, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Exposure to heat and light breaks down the delicate oils in spices.
    Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Hybrid-resilient architecture—local backups that can kick in like muscle memory when the cloud chokes.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • On the ground, there’s a war of grappling, chokes, and limb breaks, and Oliveira is one of the best to ever fight it.
    Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Needless to say, Bobby breaks up with her later.
    Jake Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Aug. 2025
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.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Melts down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melts%20down. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.

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!