blast furnace

American  

noun

1. 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.

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blast furnace British  

noun

1. 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

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Etymology

Origin of blast furnace

First recorded in 1700–10

Example Sentences

Jindal Steel’s Ebitda-per-metric-ton fall on quarter is also likely to be steeper than JSW’s and Tata’s, as Jindal incurred start-up costs for its new blast furnace, he adds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

The veteran Democratic campaign strategist, who has been described as possessing “a pile-driving personality and blast furnace of a mouth” — by me, actually — has never lacked for strong and colorful opinions.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 14, 2025

Steel plants, which includes replacing the lining of the company’s largest blast furnace in Gary, Ind. The work is expected to keep that furnace out of service for months.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025

A year after working his final shift on the blast furnace, ex-steelworker Levi Roberts is operating two smaller ovens - baking pizzas - in a converted horse-box in Port Talbot.

From BBC • Oct. 4, 2025

Mecca is surrounded by the crudest-looking mountains I have ever seen; they seem to be made of the slag from a blast furnace.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey