MELTDOWN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does meltdown mean? 

• MELTDOWN (noun)
  The noun MELTDOWN has 2 senses:

1. severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and radiation escaping

2. a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown

  Familiarity information: MELTDOWN used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MELTDOWN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and radiation escaping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

meltdown; nuclear meltdown

Hypernyms ("meltdown" is a kind of...):

overheating (excessive heating)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

there is little likelihood of a meltdown comparable to the American banking collapse in March 1933

Hypernyms ("meltdown" is a kind of...):

calamity; cataclysm; catastrophe; disaster; tragedy (an event resulting in great loss and misfortune)

 Context examples 

Uranus keeps us on our toes—be careful of all you say, lest you trigger a meltdown in your partner unexpectedly.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A genetic “mutational meltdown” helped push the woolly mammoth toward extinction, according to a new study.

(Genetic ‘Mutational Meltdown’ Doomed Woolly Mammoths, VOA)

The findings are a warning to conservationists that keeping a small pool of endangered animals could result in inbreeding and genomic meltdown.

(Genetic ‘Mutational Meltdown’ Doomed Woolly Mammoths, VOA)