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:
The Earth’s center of mass wanders as ice sheets melt and water shifts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Unlike many recyclers, which melt electronic waste in bulk, the Royal Mint dismantles devices first.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
"At high degrees of melting, these minerals break down, releasing their gold completely into the melt."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
She knew they would melt and change form, and she wanted to see how.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
The hot dogs get burned, and the marshmallows melt, but this is the best campout I’ve ever been to.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
The results indicate that the mantle beneath the Kermadec island arc melts in the presence of water and at relatively high temperatures, above the sulfide liquidus.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
People will say, “Oh, my dog hates all dogs” and then my dog pulls me over and the dog that hates all dogs just melts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
“Sternly staring at inflation until it melts before our withering gaze is not an option,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
"Sternly staring at inflation until it melts before our withering gaze is not an option."
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The next thing I know the pile of clothes bursts into flames and my red dress melts like plastic in the fire.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
His attorneys said the blast melted decorative lighting on his balcony, charred the railing and melted sections of artificial turf.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Most cymbals are made of a copper and tin alloy that is melted into molten bronze which is poured into moulds and cooled into disc-shaped blanks.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
His collection began when the last commercial letterpress printer in the city closed in 2012 and he intervened to prevent the historic equipment being melted down.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
They could instead have formed when sections of the ice shell melted locally.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
The key melted into a silver staircase that stretched to the nearest road.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Beneath the Pacific Ocean, a large region of molten material began moving strongly eastward instead of continuing its weaker westward flow.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Most cymbals are made of a copper and tin alloy that is melted into molten bronze which is poured into moulds and cooled into disc-shaped blanks.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
On frozen worlds, similar activity involving water and ice rather than molten rock is called cryovolcanism.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
If a furnace stops working, the molten metal will cool and solidify.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
This was the mold into which molten bronze was poured.
From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay
This distinction is important because completely melting tungsten carbide can alter its internal structure and reduce the properties that make it valuable.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
For centuries, this city has been a multiethnic melting pot where European and African, Muslim and Christian cultures converged, and coexisted mostly peacefully.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The thought of heading into another brutal heat wave this weekend may have you feeling like a heat-pummeled, melting face emoji unable to get off the couch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
"London has always been a melting pot of diversity and celebrating communities."
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
For the second time in less than twenty-four hours I had the disturbing sensation that I was melting, and a second later, I opened my eyes at the Academy.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
