China Syndrome

noun

Examples of China Syndrome in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Fonda took the stage to accept the award following a presentation by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and montage of clips from her films, including her Oscar winning roles in Klute and Coming Home, as well as 9 to 5, Julia, The China Syndrome, The Newsroom and many more. Denise Petski, Deadline, 23 Feb. 2025 Remember Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas in The China Syndrome driving a stake through the heart of the global nuclear industry? Clem Chambers, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024 Likewise, Hollywood took a principled stand against the blacklist (The Front [1976]), Nixon (All the President’s Men [1976]), and nuclear power (The China Syndrome [1979]) only when the blacklist was over, Nixon was out of power, and no one wanted to move next to a nuclear power plant. Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Aug. 2024 Originally, 1979’s China Syndrome was going to star Richard Dreyfuss, fresh from his star-making turn in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the alien epic Steven Spielberg had made for Columbia in 1977. Stacey Wilson Hunt, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Aug. 2024 This increased after the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979, which caused no loss of life but coincided with the release of The China Syndrome, a blockbuster film featuring an utterly unrealistic nuclear meltdown. Armond Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2021 Douglas and Fonda starred in the 1979 thriller The China Syndrome, about a fictional accident at a nuclear power plant. Paul Grein, Billboard, 6 Mar. 2024 Hot and The Apartment, as well as Best Actor for The China Syndrome. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 14 Feb. 2024 His other credits included The China Syndrome (1979), Melvin and Howard (1980), Revenge of the Nerds (1984), The Golden Child (1986), Dead Poets Society (1989), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) and Postcards From the Edge (1990). Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

from the notion that the molten reactor contents could hypothetically sink through the earth to reach China

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of China Syndrome was in 1970

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Cite this Entry

“China Syndrome.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/China%20Syndrome. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

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