Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for furnace

furnace

[ fur-nis ]

noun

  1. a structure or apparatus in which heat may be generated, as for heating houses, smelting ores, or producing steam.
  2. a place characterized by intense heat:

    The volcano was a seething furnace.

  3. Furnace, Astronomy. the constellation Fornax.


verb (used with object)

, fur·naced, fur·nac·ing.
  1. to heat (a metal piece) in a furnace.

furnace

/ ˈfɜːnɪs /

noun

  1. an enclosed chamber in which heat is produced to generate steam, destroy refuse, smelt or refine ores, etc
  2. a very hot or stifling place
“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


Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈfurnace-ˌlike, adjective
Discover More

Other Words From

  • furnace·like adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of furnace1

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”
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of furnace1

C13: from Old French fornais , from Latin fornax oven, furnace; related to Latin formus warm
Discover More

Example Sentences

You can tell the thermostat what to do all day, but it’s all for nothing if it can’t actually control the furnace or AC.

Researchers said they were struck by the number of teenagers in the cemetery and wondered if the harsh furnace work played a role in their early deaths.

“The coal mine closed, then the timber left, then the train left, and everything was gone,” said Robert Lee Fazenbaker, an 84-year-old retired miner, railroad man and furnace operator who saw each of his careers vanish.

When the lockdown began in March last year, workers at Blenko turned down the fires as low as possible so the liquid glass inside the furnace would not harden.

Diana Thomas needed a new furnace and four small basement windows for her two-story home on the east side of Kansas City.

Animal Furnace was not the first time Buress joked about rape.

The high-cheekboned actor wears a leather jacket and turtleneck and slicks back his hair in Out of the Furnace.

For example, research has shown that most carbon-monoxide alarm incidents are triggered by a malfunctioning furnace.

The family is the great fiery furnace in which people are forged.

Scott had recently finished shooting the drama Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale.

He shall give his mind to finish the glazing, and his watching to make clean the furnace.

Such a furnace worked there for many years, until copper smelting was removed from Cornwall to Wales.

It is therefore uncertain from these statements which furnace consumes the greater quantity of air.

A few pails of water, put into the furnace in the morning, is sufficient for a day's work.

The furnace where the Khamsîn brewed in distant Nubia sent its warnings in advance; it was slowly travelling northward.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


furmintFurness