See China syndrome in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for China syndrome meaning in English (8.1kB)
{
"etymology_text": "Popularized via the 1979 disaster thriller film The China Syndrome.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "China syndromes",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "~"
},
"expansion": "China syndrome (countable and uncountable, plural China syndromes)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"Chi‧na‧syn‧drome"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Nuclear physics",
"orig": "en:Nuclear physics",
"parents": [
"Physics",
"Quantum mechanics",
"Sciences",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "50 26 24",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "54 22 24",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "58 22 21",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1971 December 12, Ralph E. Lapp, “Thoughts on Nuclear Plumbing.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page E11",
"text": "The Ergen report contains an analysis showing that the high-temperature mass would sink into the earth and grow in size for about two years. […] This behavior projection is known as the China syndrome.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1979, Mike Gray, T. S. Cook, James Bridges, The China Syndrome",
"text": "Dr. Lowell: If that's true, we came very close to the China Syndrome.\nKimberly Wells: The what?\nDr. Lowell: If the core is exposed for whatever reason, the fuel heats beyond core heat tolerance in a matter of minutes. Nothing can stop it. And it melts down right through the bottom of the plant, theoretically to China. But of course, as soon as it hits ground water, it blasts into the atmosphere and sends out clouds of radioactivity.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1983, Dorothy S. Zinberg, chapter I, in Uncertain Power: The Struggle for a National Energy Policy, page 43",
"text": "The report judged the risks of catastrophic nuclear power plant accidents (known as core meltdowns or China syndromes) to be socially acceptable.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2000 January 11, Stan Sesser, “Now It's Time to Figure Out Who Caused All the Y2K Fuss”, in Wall Street Journal, →ISSN",
"text": "Contrary to accounts in the media, he states, \"bugs of this nature don't cause China Syndromes or missile launches, at least not generally.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2002 September 20, Douglas M. Chapin, Karl P. Cohen, W. Kenneth Davis, Edwin E. Kintner, Leonard J. Koch, “Nuclear Power Plants and Their Fuel as Terrorist Targets”, in Science, volume 297, number 5589, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 1997–1999",
"text": "The molten mass did not even fully penetrate the 0.5-cm cladding, confirming tests in Karlsruhe, Germany, and in Idaho, that the \"China syndrome\" is not a credible possibility.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A hypothetical kind of catastrophic failure in which a nuclear reactor melts through the floor of its containment system and penetrates the Earth's surface, continuing downward as if (from a Western Hemispheric point of view) traveling through the planet toward China."
],
"id": "en-China_syndrome-en-noun-yx7zZT7A",
"links": [
[
"nuclear physics",
"nuclear physics"
],
[
"hypothetical",
"hypothetical"
],
[
"catastrophic",
"catastrophic"
],
[
"failure",
"failure"
],
[
"nuclear reactor",
"nuclear reactor"
],
[
"melt",
"melt"
],
[
"containment",
"containment"
],
[
"penetrate",
"penetrate"
],
[
"Western Hemispheric",
"Western Hemisphere"
],
[
"planet",
"planet"
]
],
"qualifier": "nuclear physics",
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, nuclear physics, uncountable) A hypothetical kind of catastrophic failure in which a nuclear reactor melts through the floor of its containment system and penetrates the Earth's surface, continuing downward as if (from a Western Hemispheric point of view) traveling through the planet toward China."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"uncountable"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"word": "中國綜合症"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "Zhōngguó zònghézhèng",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"word": "中国综合症"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"word": "Kiina-ilmiö"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "syndrome chinois"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "China-Syndrom"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "sindrome cinese"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "China shindorōmu",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"word": "チャイナ・シンドローム"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "chiński syndrom"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "síndrome da China"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 9 8",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "kitájskij sindróm",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "кита́йский синдро́м"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2005, Justin Lahart. \"Ahead of the Tape,\" Wall Street Journal (Eastern ed.), 6 Oct., p. C1",
"text": "And then there is the China syndrome. […] China now represents about 20% of Korea's total trade."
}
],
"glosses": [
"A behavior, policy, or situation characteristic of or involving China; an actual or potential catastrophe, especially one involving China."
],
"hypernyms": [
{
"_dis1": "25 69 6",
"sense": "nuclear catastrophe",
"word": "meltdown"
}
],
"id": "en-China_syndrome-en-noun-M9OVGCen",
"links": [
[
"behavior",
"behavior"
],
[
"policy",
"policy"
],
[
"situation",
"situation"
],
[
"actual",
"actual"
],
[
"potential",
"potential"
],
[
"catastrophe",
"catastrophe"
]
],
"qualifier": "sometimes fanciful",
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, countable, sometimes fanciful) A behavior, policy, or situation characteristic of or involving China; an actual or potential catastrophe, especially one involving China."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Medicine",
"orig": "en:Medicine",
"parents": [
"Biology",
"Sciences",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2006, Pan American Health Organization, chapter I, in Poliomyelitis Eradication: Field Guide, page 49",
"text": "Unlike poliomyelitis, paralysis in China syndrome is symmetrical. In addition, cases are seasonal.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A rare disease, first characterized in the early 1990s, which resembles polio but which has somewhat different characteristics and occurs in persons vaccinated for polio."
],
"id": "en-China_syndrome-en-noun-jkiEkSgo",
"links": [
[
"medicine",
"medicine"
],
[
"rare",
"rare"
],
[
"disease",
"disease"
],
[
"polio",
"polio"
],
[
"vaccinate",
"vaccinate"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(medicine) A rare disease, first characterized in the early 1990s, which resembles polio but which has somewhat different characteristics and occurs in persons vaccinated for polio."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
],
"topics": [
"medicine",
"sciences"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-China syndrome.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/83/En-au-China_syndrome.ogg/En-au-China_syndrome.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/En-au-China_syndrome.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"The China Syndrome"
],
"word": "China syndrome"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms derived from toponyms",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English uncountable nouns"
],
"etymology_text": "Popularized via the 1979 disaster thriller film The China Syndrome.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "China syndromes",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "~"
},
"expansion": "China syndrome (countable and uncountable, plural China syndromes)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hypernyms": [
{
"sense": "nuclear catastrophe",
"word": "meltdown"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"Chi‧na‧syn‧drome"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English uncountable nouns",
"en:Nuclear physics"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1971 December 12, Ralph E. Lapp, “Thoughts on Nuclear Plumbing.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page E11",
"text": "The Ergen report contains an analysis showing that the high-temperature mass would sink into the earth and grow in size for about two years. […] This behavior projection is known as the China syndrome.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1979, Mike Gray, T. S. Cook, James Bridges, The China Syndrome",
"text": "Dr. Lowell: If that's true, we came very close to the China Syndrome.\nKimberly Wells: The what?\nDr. Lowell: If the core is exposed for whatever reason, the fuel heats beyond core heat tolerance in a matter of minutes. Nothing can stop it. And it melts down right through the bottom of the plant, theoretically to China. But of course, as soon as it hits ground water, it blasts into the atmosphere and sends out clouds of radioactivity.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1983, Dorothy S. Zinberg, chapter I, in Uncertain Power: The Struggle for a National Energy Policy, page 43",
"text": "The report judged the risks of catastrophic nuclear power plant accidents (known as core meltdowns or China syndromes) to be socially acceptable.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2000 January 11, Stan Sesser, “Now It's Time to Figure Out Who Caused All the Y2K Fuss”, in Wall Street Journal, →ISSN",
"text": "Contrary to accounts in the media, he states, \"bugs of this nature don't cause China Syndromes or missile launches, at least not generally.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2002 September 20, Douglas M. Chapin, Karl P. Cohen, W. Kenneth Davis, Edwin E. Kintner, Leonard J. Koch, “Nuclear Power Plants and Their Fuel as Terrorist Targets”, in Science, volume 297, number 5589, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 1997–1999",
"text": "The molten mass did not even fully penetrate the 0.5-cm cladding, confirming tests in Karlsruhe, Germany, and in Idaho, that the \"China syndrome\" is not a credible possibility.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A hypothetical kind of catastrophic failure in which a nuclear reactor melts through the floor of its containment system and penetrates the Earth's surface, continuing downward as if (from a Western Hemispheric point of view) traveling through the planet toward China."
],
"links": [
[
"nuclear physics",
"nuclear physics"
],
[
"hypothetical",
"hypothetical"
],
[
"catastrophic",
"catastrophic"
],
[
"failure",
"failure"
],
[
"nuclear reactor",
"nuclear reactor"
],
[
"melt",
"melt"
],
[
"containment",
"containment"
],
[
"penetrate",
"penetrate"
],
[
"Western Hemispheric",
"Western Hemisphere"
],
[
"planet",
"planet"
]
],
"qualifier": "nuclear physics",
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, nuclear physics, uncountable) A hypothetical kind of catastrophic failure in which a nuclear reactor melts through the floor of its containment system and penetrates the Earth's surface, continuing downward as if (from a Western Hemispheric point of view) traveling through the planet toward China."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English idioms"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2005, Justin Lahart. \"Ahead of the Tape,\" Wall Street Journal (Eastern ed.), 6 Oct., p. C1",
"text": "And then there is the China syndrome. […] China now represents about 20% of Korea's total trade."
}
],
"glosses": [
"A behavior, policy, or situation characteristic of or involving China; an actual or potential catastrophe, especially one involving China."
],
"links": [
[
"behavior",
"behavior"
],
[
"policy",
"policy"
],
[
"situation",
"situation"
],
[
"actual",
"actual"
],
[
"potential",
"potential"
],
[
"catastrophe",
"catastrophe"
]
],
"qualifier": "sometimes fanciful",
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, countable, sometimes fanciful) A behavior, policy, or situation characteristic of or involving China; an actual or potential catastrophe, especially one involving China."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Medicine"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2006, Pan American Health Organization, chapter I, in Poliomyelitis Eradication: Field Guide, page 49",
"text": "Unlike poliomyelitis, paralysis in China syndrome is symmetrical. In addition, cases are seasonal.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A rare disease, first characterized in the early 1990s, which resembles polio but which has somewhat different characteristics and occurs in persons vaccinated for polio."
],
"links": [
[
"medicine",
"medicine"
],
[
"rare",
"rare"
],
[
"disease",
"disease"
],
[
"polio",
"polio"
],
[
"vaccinate",
"vaccinate"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(medicine) A rare disease, first characterized in the early 1990s, which resembles polio but which has somewhat different characteristics and occurs in persons vaccinated for polio."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
],
"topics": [
"medicine",
"sciences"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-China syndrome.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/83/En-au-China_syndrome.ogg/En-au-China_syndrome.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/En-au-China_syndrome.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"word": "中國綜合症"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "Zhōngguó zònghézhèng",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"word": "中国综合症"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"word": "Kiina-ilmiö"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "syndrome chinois"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "China-Syndrom"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "sindrome cinese"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "China shindorōmu",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"word": "チャイナ・シンドローム"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "chiński syndrom"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "síndrome da China"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "kitájskij sindróm",
"sense": "meltdown of a nuclear reactor",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "кита́йский синдро́м"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"The China Syndrome"
],
"word": "China syndrome"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.