malt
Americannoun
-
malts
plural
-
germinated grain, usually barley, used in brewing and distilling.
-
any alcoholic beverage, as beer, ale, or malt liquor, fermented from malt.
-
whisky, as Scotch, that is distilled entirely from malted barley.
verb (used with object)
-
malts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
malted,
past participle, past
-
malting
present participle
-
to convert (grain) into malt by soaking it in water and allowing it to germinate.
-
to treat or mix with malt, malt extract, etc.
-
to make (liquor) with malt.
verb (used without object)
-
malts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
malted,
past participle, past
-
malting
present participle
-
to become malt.
-
to produce malt from grain.
noun
-
cereal grain, such as barley, that is kiln-dried after it has germinated by soaking in water
-
See malt liquor
-
short for malt whisky
verb
-
to make into or become malt
-
to make (something, esp liquor) with malt
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
maltsimple
-
maltssimple
-
have maltedperfect
-
has maltedperfect
-
am maltingprogressive
-
are maltingprogressive
-
is maltingprogressive
-
have been maltingperfect progressive
-
has been maltingperfect progressive
Past
-
maltedsimple
-
had maltedperfect
-
was maltingprogressive
-
were maltingprogressive
-
had been maltingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of malt
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English mealt; cognate with Old Norse malt, German Malz; akin to melt 1
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:
A beloved producer in Melbourne, Australia, Starward’s signature Nova single malt is aged in Australian red wine barrels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Dessert revives malt bread as French toast alongside sea buckthorn and pumpkin held through autumn and sharpened into sorbet.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
“I think it will be good for us,” Hoak said, while hauling 55-pound bags of malt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
But in South Korea, you might find single malt whiskies, $800 French wines, 24K gold bars, shampoo and conditioner refill stations, televisions or a dine-in instant noodle bar with more than 200 varieties of ramyon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
He would buy a hamburger, eat it, drink a malt, then think immediately of buying another one, but that only lasted a brief time.
From "The River" by Gary Paulsen
When it first appeared on shelves most of the country wasn’t clamoring for domestic malts, and so the Notch’s arrival went largely ignored by a bourbon-swigging public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
"Given the vibrancy of the overall whiskey category in China, there will be enough space for single malts, for blended whiskies, for local players, for imported whiskey, to grow," he says.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2024
Long viewed as an inferior copycat of Scotch, Japanese single malts and blended whiskies started racking up international awards around 2008, sparking intense global demand that effectively drank the supply dry by around 2015.
From Reuters ● Nov. 21, 2023
For example, Amazon in 2019 offered “Maisel Day” to promote its comedy drama “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” with 1950s-inspired pricing on malts and movie tickets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2022
She thought all she had to do was drink malts full of Dr. Dee’s Nerve and Flesh Builder, eat pork, and she’d put on enough weight to fill out the back of her dress.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
But the federal government didn’t even recognize American single malt—whiskey made from 100% malted barley produced at one U.S. distillery—as a spirits category until 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Roasted and ground lupin, chickpea, malted barley, and chicory are amongst the major ingredients the company works with, along with an undisclosed natural flavouring.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2024
“And the Welsh have everything that we have: They have decent water, they have malted barley, and they have yeast, so they can make good whisky.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2024
The palate includes almond nougat, crème brûlée, black tea, white flower petals and malted milk balls.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2023
When I'm out somewhere, I generally just eat a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
Sir Geoff's academic work saw him invent the barley abrasion process - which involves deliberately damaging the protective husk of grains to speed up the process of malting.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2025
But in the absence of Australian malting barley, many Chinese craft brewers turned to alternatives such as French or Canadian malt.
From Reuters ● Sep. 29, 2023
Additionally, its small size means it falls through the perforations at the bottoms of malting kettles designed to accommodate larger barley kernels.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2023
After the malting operation closed, the building fell into disrepair.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2022
He walked back to Strawberry and began malting the hissing noises that grooms make.
From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis
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