melt

1
[ melt ]
See synonyms for: meltmeltedmeltingmolten on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),melt·ed, melt·ed or mol·ten [mohl-tn], /ˈmoʊl tn/, melt·ing.
  1. to become liquefied by warmth or heat, as ice, snow, butter, or metal.

  2. to become liquid; dissolve: Let the cough drop melt in your mouth.

  1. to pass, dwindle, or fade gradually (often followed by away): His fortune slowly melted away.

  2. to pass, change, or blend gradually (often followed by into): Night melted into day.

  3. to become softened in feeling by pity, sympathy, love, or the like: The tyrant's heart would not melt.

  4. Obsolete. to be subdued or overwhelmed by sorrow, dismay, etc.

verb (used with object),melt·ed, melt·ed or mol·ten [mohl-tn], /ˈmoʊl tn/, melt·ing.
  1. to reduce to a liquid state by warmth or heat; fuse: Fire melts ice.

  2. to cause to pass away or fade.

  1. to cause to pass, change, or blend gradually.

  2. to soften in feeling, as a person or the heart.

noun
  1. the act or process of melting; state of being melted.

  2. something that is melted.

  1. a quantity melted at one time.

  2. a sandwich or other dish topped with cheese and heated through until the cheese melts: a tuna melt.

Origin of melt

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English melten, Old English meltan (intransitive), m(i)elten (transitive) “to melt, digest”; cognate with Old Norse melta “to digest,” Greek méldein “to melt”

synonym study For melt

1. Melt, dissolve, fuse, thaw imply reducing a solid substance to a liquid state. To melt is to bring a solid to a liquid condition by the agency of heat: to melt butter. Dissolve, though sometimes used interchangeably with melt, applies to a different process, depending upon the fact that certain solids, placed in certain liquids, distribute their particles throughout the liquids: A greater number of solids can be dissolved in water and in alcohol than in any other liquids. To fuse is to subject a solid (usually a metal) to a very high temperature; it applies especially to melting or blending metals together: Bell metal is made by fusing copper and tin. To thaw is to restore a frozen substance to its normal (liquid, semiliquid, or more soft and pliable) state by raising its temperature above the freezing point: Sunshine will thaw ice in a lake.

Other words for melt

Other words from melt

  • melt·a·ble, adjective
  • melt·a·bil·i·ty [mel-tuh-bil-i-tee], /ˌmɛl təˈbɪl ɪ ti/, noun
  • melt·ing·ly, adverb
  • melt·ing·ness, noun
  • non·melt·a·ble, adjective
  • non·melt·ing, adjective
  • un·melt·a·ble, adjective
  • un·melt·ed, adjective
  • un·melt·ing, adjective

Words that may be confused with melt

Words Nearby melt

Other definitions for melt (2 of 2)

melt2
[ melt ]

noun
  1. the spleen, especially that of a cow, pig, etc.

Origin of melt

2
First recorded in 1575–85; variant of milt

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use melt in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for melt

melt

/ (mɛlt) /


verbmelts, melting, melted, melted or molten (ˈməʊltən)
  1. to liquefy (a solid) or (of a solid) to become liquefied, as a result of the action of heat

  2. to become or make liquid; dissolve: cakes that melt in the mouth

  1. (often foll by away) to disappear; fade

  2. (foll by down) to melt (metal scrap) for reuse

  3. (often foll by into) to blend or cause to blend gradually

  4. to make or become emotional or sentimental; soften

noun
  1. the act or process of melting

  2. something melted or an amount melted

Origin of melt

1
Old English meltan to digest; related to Old Norse melta to malt (beer), digest, Greek meldein to melt

Derived forms of melt

  • meltable, adjective
  • meltability, noun
  • melter, noun
  • meltingly, adverb
  • meltingness, noun

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

Scientific definitions for melt

melt

[ mĕlt ]


  1. To change from a solid to a liquid state by heating or being heated with sufficient energy at the melting point. See also heat of fusion.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with melt

melt

In addition to the idiom beginning with melt

  • melt in one's mouth

also see:

  • butter wouldn't melt

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.