furnace
Americannoun
-
furnaces
plural
-
a structure or apparatus in which heat may be generated, as for heating houses, smelting ores, or producing steam.
-
a place characterized by intense heat.
The volcano was a seething furnace.
-
Astronomy. Furnace, the constellation Fornax.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
an enclosed chamber in which heat is produced to generate steam, destroy refuse, smelt or refine ores, etc
-
a very hot or stifling place
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Unit 4: Powerful Openings
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 1, Words to Know
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
My house will eventually need a new roof and probably a new furnace.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Seiler placed them in a semi-sealed steel container with very little oxygen and heated them in a high-temperature furnace in his home laboratory.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
The Japanese company is investing about 900 million euros at its Slovakian operating unit to build an electric arc furnace and an air separation unit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
He said this could have implications for other parts of the UK steel industry such as the electric steel-making furnace in Port Talbot.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
My father says something in response, but the furnace kicks in and I can’t hear it clearly over the noise.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
The company expects to build plants at the site to process the ore for use in electric arc furnaces with scrap steel to make new steel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
In April last year, the government passed an emergency bill to take control of British Steel amid reports the then-owner Jingye was planning to switch off two blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Specialized vacuum furnaces required to make these parts have lead times of more than two years, according to Chiang.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
While saying there was no major impact yet on its blast furnaces, finance chief Axel Hamann said the company was keeping a close eye on the situation.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Ever and anon the furnaces far below its ashen cone would grow hot and with a great surging and throbbing pour forth rivers of molten rock from chasms in its sides.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Every word that he speaks has been fierily furnaced In the blast of a life that has struggled in earnest.
From Home Life of Great Authors by Hattie Tyng Griswold
There he lies and sleeps From year to year—in soft Australian nights, And through the furnaced noons, and in the times Of wind and wet!
From The Poems of Henry Kendall With Biographical Note by Bertram Stevens by Henry Kendall
Across a tract of furnaced flints there came a wind of water, From yellow banks with tender hints of Tethys' white-armed daughter.
From The Poems of Henry Kendall With Biographical Note by Bertram Stevens by Henry Kendall
And the winds blew with excessive heat, as if warmed by the breath of sighs furnaced forth by travellers grieved at being separated from their wives.
From Tales of the Sun or Folklore of Southern India by Mrs. Howard Kingscote
Bake yourselves, kiln-dry yourselves, if you choose, in your furnaced houses at home, but, if you value your health, "reform that altogether" in Italy.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 31, May, 1860 by Various
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
