smelt
1to fuse or melt (ore) in order to separate the metal contained.
to obtain or refine (metal) in this way.
Origin of smelt
1Other definitions for smelt (2 of 3)
any of various small, silvery food fishes of the family Osmeridae, of cold northern waters, as the North American rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax.
any of several superficially similar but unrelated fishes, especially certain silversides, of California.
Origin of smelt
2Other definitions for smelt (3 of 3)
a simple past tense and past participle of smell.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use smelt in a sentence
Stacks of refined (left) and crude (right) Tin ingots after smelting.
The Guggenheim family, with their friend J.P. Morgan, ran the copper-smelting game.
Copper, the Metal That Runs the World: ‘Boom, Bust, Boom,’ by Bill Carter | Peter Madden | October 26, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTSuch a furnace worked there for many years, until copper smelting was removed from Cornwall to Wales.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickThe economy of heat in smelting furnaces and in the arated steam-engine were bold means to large results.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickBut Mr. Leaf tells us that, "by primitive modes of smelting," iron is made "hard and brittle, like cast iron."
Homer and His Age | Andrew Lang
On its banks some buildings have been constructed, for the smelting of copper ore.
The Pacific coast has Chicago for her smelting furnace, four large silver mills being located here.
Ocean to Ocean on Horseback | Willard Glazier
British Dictionary definitions for smelt (1 of 3)
/ (smɛlt) /
(tr) to extract (a metal) from (an ore) by heating
Origin of smelt
1British Dictionary definitions for smelt (2 of 3)
/ (smɛlt) /
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
Origin of smelt
2British Dictionary definitions for smelt (3 of 3)
/ (smɛlt) /
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
Scientific definitions for smelt
[ smĕlt ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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