blast furnace

noun

a large vertical furnace for smelting iron from ore, using coke as fuel: designed so as to direct a continuous blast of air through the fuel in order to obtain a high rate of combustion.

Origin of blast furnace

First recorded in 1700–10

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Examples from the Web for blast furnace

Historical Examples of blast furnace

Build a smelting-house, blast-furnace, kiln for cleansing ore.
Perseverance Island
Douglas Frazar
In the blast-furnace all lead ores are successfully smelted.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 3
Various
Use of coke in blast-furnace—Abram Darby, England, about 1720.
The Story of Great Inventions
Elmer Ellsworth Burns
Through the quick sparks of fire I tried to watch the blast-furnace below.
'Green Balls'
Paul Bewsher
Suddenly there was a rushing noise like an escape of air from some blast-furnace.
Now It Can Be Told
Philip Gibbs

British Dictionary definitions for blast furnace

blast furnace

noun

a vertical cylindrical furnace for smelting iron, copper, lead, and tin ores. The ore, scrap, solid fuel, and slag-forming materials are fed through the top and a blast of preheated air is forced through the charge from the bottom. Metal and slag are run off from the base

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012