Melt
[melt] or [mɛlt]
Definition
(verb.) lose its distinct outline or shape; blend gradually; 'Hundreds of actors were melting into the scene'.
(verb.) reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating; 'melt butter'; 'melt down gold'; 'The wax melted in the sun'.
(verb.) become less intense and fade away gradually; 'her resistance melted under his charm'; 'her hopes evaporated after years of waiting for her fiance'.
Checked by Alfreda--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) See 2d Milt.
(v.) To reduce from a solid to a liquid state, as by heat; to liquefy; as, to melt wax, tallow, or lead; to melt ice or snow.
(v.) Hence: To soften, as by a warming or kindly influence; to relax; to render gentle or susceptible to mild influences; sometimes, in a bad sense, to take away the firmness of; to weaken.
(v. i.) To be changed from a solid to a liquid state under the influence of heat; as, butter and wax melt at moderate temperatures.
(v. i.) To dissolve; as, sugar melts in the mouth.
(v. i.) Hence: To be softened; to become tender, mild, or gentle; also, to be weakened or subdued, as by fear.
(v. i.) To lose distinct form or outline; to blend.
(v. i.) To disappear by being dispersed or dissipated; as, the fog melts away.
Inputed by Ethel
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Liquefy (by heat), fuse.[2]. Soften, make gentle, make susceptible.
v. n. [1]. Dissolve, become liquid.[2]. Be softened, be made gentle.
Checked by Douglas
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Dissolve, liquify, colliquate, run, flow, fuse
ANT:Consolidate, crystallize, indurate
Edited by Hattie
Definition
v.t. to make liquid to dissolve: to soften: to waste away.—v.i. to become liquid: to dissolve: to become tender or mild: to lose distinct form: to be discouraged:—pa.p. melted or molten.—n. Melt′ing the act of making liquid or of dissolving: the act of softening or rendering tender.—adv. Melt′ingly.—n. Melt′ing-pot a crucible.
Checked by Delores
Examples
- Depend upon it, they will melt away. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- She's got such a soft heart, it will melt like butter in the sun if anyone looks sentimentlly at her. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- That sky with its high and light clouds which are sure to melt away as the day waxes warm--this placid and balmly atmosphere? Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- If the current is made too strong, however, the wire will melt. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Melt the petrolatum and wax together and add the tannin while cooling; add the oils and stir until cold. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- The wax of the ear is essential for flexibility of the ear drum; if an extra amount accumulates, it can be got rid of by bathing the ear in hot water, since the heat will melt the wax. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- With his mind apparently relieved from an overwhelming weight, by having at last got an order for something, the waiter imperceptibly melted away. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Donnez-moi la main, said he, and the spite and jealousy melted out of his face, and a generous kindliness shone there instead. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Break up the glue and soak in the water for a few hours, then heat by water-bath until melted. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- Pots are used containing the materials to be melted and not heated in the presence of the burning fuel, but by the heated gases in separate compartments. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The fearlessness of the Chicago confession was melted down into a featureless alloy. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Mr. Barff kindly sent him a specimen of this substance, which he melted, and put some of it into one-half of a pint of cream. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- He cleared his vision with his sleeve, and the melting mood over, a very stern one followed. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The space between these two points, which represent the temperatures of boiling water and of melting ice, is divided into 180 equal parts called degrees. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- A seignorage will, in many cases, take away altogether, and will in all cases diminish, the profit of melting down the new coin. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The superiority of coin above bullion would prevent the melting down of the coin, and would discourage its exportation. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- A fuse is made by combining a number of metals in such a way that the resulting substance has a low melting point and a high electrical resistance. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- If a lump of melting ice is placed in the vessel of hot water and then removed, the ice will not be warmer than before, but there will be less of it. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I will go when the snow melts, Anselmo said. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- He'll probably leave tracks like an old bull elk spooking out of the country and work way up and then when the snow melts circle back below. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Fire melts ore and allows of the forging of iron, as in the blacksmith's shop, and of the fashioning of innumerable objects serviceable to man. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- If fine platinum wire is placed in an ordinary gas flame, it does not melt, but if placed in a flame of burning hydrogen, it melts very quickly. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Can she make your real flecky paste, as melts in your mouth, and lies all up like a puff? Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- The heat of the burning tallow melts more of the tallow near it, and this liquid fat is quickly sucked up into the burning wick. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- We have described how by Cort's puddling process tremendous labour was imposed on the workmen in stirring the molten metal by hand with rabbles. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The wheel is kept revolving, and a man on one side is kept constantly busy in filling the molds with the molten material as they reach him. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- When the temperature is about as hot as that of molten iron the pure nitrogen gas from the liquid air plant is pumped in and allowed to act on the calcium carbide for about a day and a half. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- As he sat a change came over his body, the hot, molten stream mounted involuntarily through his veins. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The 100-ton ladles are in position at the tapping side of the furnaces to receive the molten steel. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- This process is called _puddling_, and consists in exposing the molten metal to an oxidizing current of flame and air. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Checker: Lucy