furnace
Americannoun
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a structure or apparatus in which heat may be generated, as for heating houses, smelting ores, or producing steam.
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a place characterized by intense heat.
The volcano was a seething furnace.
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Astronomy. Furnace, the constellation Fornax.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an enclosed chamber in which heat is produced to generate steam, destroy refuse, smelt or refine ores, etc
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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
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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.
The view on a trip to the Fiery Furnace canyon in Arches National Park, Utah.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2024
Compared to other hikes, Fiery Furnace is more of a moonshot when it comes to crossing its Martian terrain.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2024
“What DNA does for the first time is connect a living, 21st century family not just to Catoctin but to the actual cemetery,” says Catoctin Furnace Historical Society archaeologist Elizabeth Comer.
From Science Magazine • Feb. 17, 2024
The state agency’s on-scene coordinator directed questions to Harvest Alaska spokesperson Justin Furnace, who released a statement from Andrew Limmer, regional vice president of Harvest Alaska.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 16, 2024
For blowing Glass very thin at a Lamp Furnace, those Plates encompassed with Air did exhibit Colours much more vivid than those of Air made thin between two Glasses.
From Opticks or, a Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections, and Colours of Light by Newton, Isaac, Sir
Definitions 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.
