to melt down
12
6.9
- phrasal verb
- /mɛlt daʊn/
:
colapsar
- I can't have him melt down during this call.
- Trump melted down
- markets melted down
- financial markets melted down
And they said, look, the entire economy is melting down at this point.
- And they said, look, the entire economy is melting down at this point.
- All right, Next up, one more video here of Elon Musk melting down.
- As the global economy melts down, we could see drama and less trade on both sides.
- OK, Speaking of dip shits, let's talk about the conservatives melting down over the Snow White remake.
- And my wife said, well, I'm going to run to the toy store and pick up some little toys that will help distract Sonny's kids when they melt down during the christening.
- So now Trump's up, which has a left completely melting down.
- Like as this old kind of like the paradigm melts down.
- Who were melting down when they got bad grades and injuring themselves in class?
- You know, as he's melting down every pillar of the United States of America, Here he is on the White House lawn.
Examples
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If we invest and the financial world melts down, it doesn't matter what we did.
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Watch out, Fred; Doomsy is about to lose it and melt down, just as he did last night.
Blog text (25) -
After a few days, I was starting to melt down with worry.
Blog text (3) -
Here was someone with incredible talent, mentally melting down while on the field of play.
Blog text (6) -
You see these school boards melting down and turning into fist fights and police.
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A stressed-out or disappointed bride may melt down or get depressed during the wedding.
Blog text (24) -
Instead, the Knicks melted down both physically and emotionally in the third quarter.
Blog text (20) -
For if the markets melt down, many will recall the aforementioned speech, and especially his wretched tone.
Blog text (25) -
And I think one of the things that we saw when Evergreen melted down was that our colleagues became incapable of learning.
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After the stressful meeting, he completely melted down and started crying in front of his coworkers.
Synonyms
579
3.9
To fall down suddenly, for example when a person faints or a building breaks
111
3.9
To lose control of your feelings and cry or collapse
24
4.7
Stop working, especially things like lights or fuses, because they get too hot from too much use
Antonyms
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal meanings of 'melt' (to change state/soften) plus 'down' (toward a lower or deteriorated state) give a plausible sense of something failing or breaking apart, so a learner might guess a physical or functional collapse. However, the emotional sense 'lose control emotionally' and the technical sense 'catastrophic overheating' are metaphorical extensions and not fully predictable from the parts without prior exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Melt down was also used for machines that get so hot their metal parts melt and run down, causing the machine to fail. People then used that strong image for feelings: when someone cannot hold themselves together and loses control, they 'melt down'. So it can mean 'a serious failure' or 'to lose control emotionally'.