melt
1 Americanverb (used without object)
-
melts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
melted,
past participle, past
-
molten,
past participle
-
melting
present participle
-
to become liquefied by warmth or heat, as ice, snow, butter, or metal.
-
to become liquid; dissolve.
Let the cough drop melt in your mouth.
-
to pass, dwindle, or fade gradually (often followed byaway ).
His fortune slowly melted away.
-
to pass, change, or blend gradually (often followed byinto ).
Night melted into day.
- Synonyms:
- fade
-
to become softened in feeling by pity, sympathy, love, or the like.
The tyrant's heart would not melt.
-
Obsolete. to be subdued or overwhelmed by sorrow, dismay, etc.
verb (used with object)
-
melts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
melted,
past participle, past
-
molten,
past participle
-
melting
present participle
noun
-
the act or process of melting; state of being melted.
-
something that is melted.
-
a quantity melted at one time.
-
a sandwich or other dish topped with cheese and heated through until the cheese melts.
a tuna melt.
noun
verb
-
to liquefy (a solid) or (of a solid) to become liquefied, as a result of the action of heat
-
to become or make liquid; dissolve
cakes that melt in the mouth
-
(often foll by away) to disappear; fade
-
(foll by down) to melt (metal scrap) for reuse
-
(often foll by into) to blend or cause to blend gradually
-
to make or become emotional or sentimental; soften
noun
-
the act or process of melting
-
something melted or an amount melted
-
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
Synonym Usage
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 Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
meltabilitynoun
-
melternoun
-
meltingnessnoun
-
meltableadjective
-
nonmeltableadjective
-
nonmeltingadjective
-
unmeltableadjective
-
unmeltedadjective
-
unmeltingadjective
-
meltinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
meltsimple
-
meltssimple
-
have meltedperfect
-
have moltenperfect
-
has meltedperfect
-
has moltenperfect
-
am meltingprogressive
-
are meltingprogressive
-
is meltingprogressive
-
have been meltingperfect progressive
-
has been meltingperfect progressive
Past
-
meltedsimple
-
had meltedperfect
-
had moltenperfect
-
was meltingprogressive
-
were meltingprogressive
-
had been meltingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of melt1
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”
Origin of melt2
First recorded in 1575–85; variant of milt
Explanation
To melt means to fade away slowly and disappear, like a snowman in the middle of the Sahara. "I'm melting! I'm melting!" — Those are the feeble cries of ice cubes on a hot summer day and Wicked Witches doused with water by a meddling girl from Kansas. To melt a stick of butter into liquid form sounds like an excellent idea for your popcorn — but perhaps not for your diet. And when your puppy looks up at you with those big brown puppy eyes, your heart probably melts — even if he just ate your slippers.
Vocabulary lists containing melt
Beowulf vocabulary
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Cheesy Goodness
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Words for Cheese Writers
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Sea levels are rising at a record pace, driven by warming oceans and glacier melt, according to an August UN report.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The sea level is rising at a record pace, driven by warming oceans and glacier melt, according to a UN report.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
“It is hard to grasp these melt rates and it hurts to see the ice disappearing,” said Matthias Huss, head of the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Jackson said it was a “scary situation” as the window started to melt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
The snow finally stopped coming down and it is starting to melt.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
First, Smith melts fat and tightens deeper tissue using Vaser, an ultrasonic wand inserted into the arm via a small incision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
A substantial share of the Colorado River's annual flow begins as snow that accumulates at high elevations during winter and melts during spring and early summer.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
The onion — and yes, I use a whole medium white onion, because we are committing to the bit — melts into the background, helped along by both onion and garlic powder.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
"Local ice is more economical, but Kuramoto Ice is clearer, denser and melts more slowly," co-owner Yong Wei told AFP.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
Rushes the season, sometimes, arrives before the last of the snow melts.
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
The parent bodies represented by these meteorites contained so much radioactive aluminum-26 that they eventually melted completely.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
One TikToker documented how her carefully packed blocks melted by arrival, the chili-flavored butter leaking onto the strawberry and raspberry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
The boat is named Rarebit, which is also the name of a traditional Welsh meal consisting of seasoned melted cheese sauce served over hot toast.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
In that moment, the city, the noise, the rush, my daily fears and anxieties all melted away.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Or was it ugly and disgusting, because it had been left too near the stove once, and so its side was scorched and melted and distorted, and it should have been thrown away years ago?
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Half the table orders Diet Coke, the other water with lemon; someone requests a skillet of molten white queso.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
"Polymer source material is abundantly available from consumer waste, and our catalyst system, aluminum molten salts, is very cheap," Qiu said.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
Building on that long history, Dai proposed using molten salts for an entirely different purpose: converting discarded polymers into useful fuels.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
They stand amid a Seussian obstacle course of towers of paper, cabinets of type, and pools of molten lead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
There was a bit of a breeze on the water, but even the wind seemed molten to them as they climbed into the shell.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Although Norway did not win the World Cup—the Vikings rowed their way to the quarterfinals before melting in the Miami heat against England—it’s safe to say that no one had a better time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“As a Texan, I am proud of the cultural melting pot that makes our state so great and this collaboration is such a fun example of that.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The research shows how major seasonal changes, including melting snow, moving ocean water, and dense winter air, redistribute enormous amounts of mass across Earth's surface.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Charles said Liverpool was "a melting pot of ideas, warmth and wit"
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
My cheeks are so hot, my skin might start melting off my face.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
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.
