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Synonyms

smelt

1 American  
[smelt] / smɛlt /

verb (used with object)

  1. to fuse or melt (ore) in order to separate the metal contained.

  2. to obtain or refine (metal) in this way.

smelt 2 American  
[smelt] / smɛlt /

verb

  1. a simple past tense and past participle of smell.

smelt 3 American  
[smelt] / smɛlt /

noun

plural

smelt,

plural

smelts

  1. any of various small, silvery food fishes of the family Osmeridae, of cold northern waters, as the North American rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax.

  2. any of several superficially similar but unrelated fishes, especially certain silversides, of California.

smelt 1 British  
/ smɛlt /

verb

  1. (tr) to extract (a metal) from (an ore) by heating

"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
smelt 2 British  
/ smɛlt /

verb

  1. a past tense and past participle of smell

"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
smelt 3 British  
/ smɛlt /

noun

  1. any marine or freshwater salmonoid food fish of the family Osmeridae, such as Osmerus eperlanus of Europe, having a long silvery body and occurring in temperate and cold northern waters

"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
smelt Scientific  
/ smĕlt /

  1. To melt ores in order to extract the metals they contain. Oxide ores, such as iron ore, are smelted with carbon, which serves as a fuel and changes the ore into a reduced metal.

Etymology

Origin of smelt1

First recorded in 1535–45; probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German smelten; cognate with German schmelzen “to melt, smelt, fuse”; melt 1,

Origin of smelt1

First recorded before 900; Middle English smelt(e), smelth, Old English smelt, smylt; compare Norwegian smelta “whiting”

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.

"We spent around an hour getting all the glass out and the porch smelt a bit, but you can imagine."

From BBC

Populations of Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, Delta smelt and other species have been declining.

From Los Angeles Times

In my family, everyone new to the table — new partners, neighbors, friends — must try a smelt.

From Salon

Populations of Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, Delta smelt and other species have been declining in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times

The U.S. has plenty of copper in the ground, but smelting capacity is a pinch point.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.