melt down

verb

To melt fully, especially metal or glass so that it can be remade into something else.

“The reactor core melted down.”

Similar
meltrunbleed
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Meanings

verbmelt down (third-person singular simple present melts down, present participle melting down, simple past melted down, past participle melted down or (archaic) molten down)

present singular third person melts down · participle present melting down · past melted down · participle past melted down · archaic participle past molten down

  1. transitiveTo melt fully, especially metal or glass so that it can be remade into something else.

    The Great Exhibition of 1851 is also very much in King's Cross's DNA. The clock in its short, Italianate central tower came from the Exhibition and in its early years it struck the hours, but the bells were first silenced in the First World War and then melted down during the Second World War.

    2021 December 1, Nigel Harris, “St Pancras and King's Cross: 1947”, in RAIL, number 945, page 39
  2. intransitiveTo lose structure by being heated to a molten state.

    The reactor core melted down.

  3. figurativelyintransitiveTo have a breakdown; to collapse or fail utterly.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbreduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating

Similar
meltrunbleed
Broader
dissolveresolvebreak up
Also see
bleedmeltrun

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Polish przetapiać, przetopić
  • przetapiać(transitive) to melt fully
  • przetopić(transitive) to melt fully
  • roztapiać(transitive) to melt fully
  • roztopić(transitive) to melt fully
  • przetapiać się(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
  • przetopić się(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
  • roztapiać się(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
  • roztopić się(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
  • rozpływać się(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
  • rozpłynąć się(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
Russian расплавля́ть, распла́вить
  • расплавля́ть (rasplavljátʹ)(transitive) to melt fully
  • распла́вить (rasplávitʹ)(transitive) to melt fully
  • переплавля́ть (pereplavljátʹ)(transitive) to melt fully
  • перепла́вить (pereplávitʹ)(transitive) to melt fully
  • расплавля́ться (rasplavljátʹsja)(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
  • распла́виться (rasplávitʹsja)(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
Ukrainian розплавля́ти, розпла́вити
  • розплавля́ти (rozplavljáty)(transitive) to melt fully
  • розпла́вити (rozplávyty)(transitive) to melt fully
  • переплавля́ти (pereplavljáty)(transitive) to melt fully
  • перепла́вити (pereplávyty)(transitive) to melt fully
  • розплавля́тися (rozplavljátysja)(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
  • розпла́витися (rozplávytysja)(intransitive) to lose structure by being heated to a molten state
Cite this entry
APA

melt down. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melt%20down

MLA

“melt down.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melt%20down. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “melt down,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/melt%20down.

Source: melt down on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.