meltdown

5 definitions • 10 examples

an extremely dangerous situation in a nuclear power station in which the nuclear fuel becomes very hot and melts through its container and escapes into the environment

a complete failure, especially in financial matters:

financial/economic/market meltdown

The last few months have seen the progressive meltdown of the country's political system.

an occasion when a person becomes extremely upset and is not able to deal with a problem or situation

a dangerous accident in which the fuel melts in a nuclear reactor (= device that produces energy)

a situation in which an industry, economy, etc. is badly affected by a lot of problems within a short period of time:

Analysts were watching for signs of a meltdown following problems at three of Wall Street's major investment banks.

A deadly new computer virus caused much of the internet to go into meltdown last weekend.

a meltdown in sth A meltdown in the mortgage industry has made it more difficult to get a loan or to refinance.

a meltdown of sth The two officials are expected to help develop a plan to prevent a meltdown of the county's finances.

be in meltdown Since the credit crisis, the whole banking industry has been in meltdown.

financial/economic/political meltdown

a stock market/subprime/credit meltdown

a global/industry/corporate meltdown