Meltdown — is a term generally referring to a nuclear meltdown or the melting of a nuclear reactor core as a result of a serious nuclear accident. The term has also been borrowed to describe the following: The Subprime mortgage crisis A tantrum Meltdown… … Wikipedia
meltdown — melt‧down [ˈmeltdaʊn] noun [singular] ECONOMICS a situation in which prices fall by a very large amount or an industry or economy becomes much weaker: • A near meltdown in overseas stock markets sent U.S. prices plunging for the third consecutive … Financial and business terms
Meltdown — (engl. schmelzen) bezeichnet eine unter dem Namen Meltdown gegründete Thrash Metal Band aus Pittsburgh, siehe Mantic Ritual einen US amerikanischen Katastrophenfilm, siehe Meltdown – Days of Destruction Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärun … Deutsch Wikipedia
meltdown — (n.) by 1937 in the ice cream industry; by 1956 in reference to a nuclear reactor, from verbal phrase, from MELT (Cf. melt) (v.) + DOWN (Cf. down) (adv.). Metaphoric extension since 1979 … Etymology dictionary
meltdown — ► NOUN 1) an accident in a nuclear reactor in which the fuel overheats and melts the reactor core. 2) a disastrous collapse or breakdown … English terms dictionary
meltdown — [melt′doun΄] n. 1. a situation in which a rapid rise in the power level of a nuclear reactor, as from a defect in the cooling system, results in the melting of the fuel rods and the release of dangerous radiation and may cause the core to sink… … English World dictionary
Meltdown — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Meltdown (homonymie). Meltdown Personnage de fiction apparaissant dans … Wikipédia en Français
meltdown — [[t]me̱ltdaʊn[/t]] meltdowns 1) N VAR If there is meltdown in a nuclear reactor, the fuel rods start melting because of a failure in the system, and radiation starts to escape. Scientists warned that emergency cooling systems could fail and a… … English dictionary
meltdown — noun a) Severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and radiation escaping. Four years have passed since the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, but the grim legacy of the Soviet catastrophe is still… … Wiktionary
meltdown — UK [ˈmeltˌdaʊn] / US noun [countable/uncountable] Word forms meltdown : singular meltdown plural meltdowns 1) physics an accident in a nuclear reactor in which the temperature increases in the nuclear fuel until it melts and bursts through its… … English dictionary
meltdown — n. a total collapse of anything. (From the term used to describe the self destruction of a nuclear reactor.) □ There seems to have been a meltdown in the computer center, and all our records were lost. □ The meltdown in the securities markets was … Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions
