meltdown

crise de nerfs, crise émotionnelle

Moment où une personne est si bouleversée ou dépassée qu’elle ne maîtrise plus ses réactions.

En anglais simple : A period when someone feels so upset or overwhelmed that they cannot control their reactions.

• He had a meltdown after school.
• Too much noise can trigger a meltdown.
• She was close to a meltdown after a week of constant pressure.

Synonymes : outburst, tantrum

Expressions courantes : have a meltdown, emotional meltdown, complete meltdown

effondrement, crise

Défaillance grave qui rend un système ou une situation très difficile à maîtriser.

En anglais simple : A serious breakdown in which a system or situation becomes very difficult to control.

• The company faced a financial meltdown.
• Markets fell sharply during the economic meltdown.
• A computer failure caused a complete meltdown of the booking system.

Synonymes : collapse, breakdown, crisis

Expressions courantes : financial meltdown, economic meltdown, political meltdown

fusion du cœur

Accident où le combustible nucléaire chauffe au point de fondre, avec un risque de libération de rayonnements dangereux.

En anglais simple : An accident in which nuclear fuel gets so hot that it melts and may release dangerous radiation.

• The reactor suffered a meltdown.
• Workers restored cooling to prevent a nuclear meltdown.
• Radiation escaped after the core meltdown.

Expressions courantes : nuclear meltdown, reactor meltdown, core meltdown

fonte

Transformation d’une matière solide en liquide.

En anglais simple : The process of a solid becoming liquid.

• The heat caused a rapid meltdown of the ice.
• Water filled the valley during the spring meltdown.
• Researchers measured the glacier’s meltdown over several weeks.

Synonymes : melting, thaw

Contraires : freezing

Expressions courantes : spring meltdown, ice meltdown, rapid meltdown