Four years have passed since the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, but the grim legacy of the Soviet catastrophe is still unfolding. [
Channel 4 switchboards went into meltdown this week when viewers called to complain about a Brass Eye programme on child sex.
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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 — 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
