furnace
Americannoun
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a structure or apparatus in which heat may be generated, as for heating houses, smelting ores, or producing steam.
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a place characterized by intense heat.
The volcano was a seething furnace.
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Astronomy. Furnace, the constellation Fornax.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an enclosed chamber in which heat is produced to generate steam, destroy refuse, smelt or refine ores, etc
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a very hot or stifling place
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of furnace
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English furneis, furnais, from Old French fornais, fournais, from Latin fornāc- (stem of fornāx “kiln, oven”), akin to formus “warm”
Explanation
A furnace is an appliance that heats houses and buildings by burning fuel or circulating hot water. Your furnace might rumble in the basement, sending heat up through your house's radiators. Most houses in cold climates have a furnace, to warm their rooms during the chilly months of the year. Furnaces also have industrial uses, like burning trash or extracting ore from metal. If someone says, "It's as hot as a furnace in this classroom!" they mean that it's extremely hot. Furnace comes from the Old French fornaise, "oven," with the Latin root word fornacem, "oven or kiln."
Vocabulary lists containing furnace
Mockingbird
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Unit 1, Words to Know
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If venturing the unknown of Fiery Furnace all alone doesn’t appeal to you, park rangers offer guided tours several times a day to permitted guests.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2024
The so-called Blazing Furnace campaign has touched the highest echelons of Vietnamese politics.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 11, 2024
On Sunday, Wines said 3,500 people passed through the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in the park, marking the busiest day measured in that spot.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2024
“What DNA does for the first time is connect a living, 21st century family not just to Catoctin but to the actual cemetery,” says Catoctin Furnace Historical Society archaeologist Elizabeth Comer.
From Science Magazine • Feb. 17, 2024
“I am appeased, and Furnace now grows cool.” 259.I.,
From Philip Massinger by Cruickshank, A. H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
