melt

 
Pronunciation: /mɛlt/

verb

  • 1make or become liquefied by heating: [with object]: the hot metal melted the wax (as adjective melted) asparagus with melted butter [no object]: place under a hot grill until the cheese has melted
  • [with object] (melt something down) melt a metal article so as to reuse the raw material: beautiful objects are being melted down and sold for scrap
  • [no object] dissolve in liquid: add 400g sugar and boil until the sugar melts
  • [no object] informal (of a person) suffer extreme heat.
  • 2make or become more tender or loving: [with object]: Richard gave her a smile which melted her heart [no object]: she was so beautiful that I melted
  • 3 [no object, with adverbial] disappear or disperse: the compromise was accepted and the opposition melted away
  • (melt into) change or merge imperceptibly into (another form or state): the cheers melted into gasps of admiration

noun

  • an act or period of melting: the precipitation falls as snow and is released during the spring melt
  • [mass noun] metal or other material in a melted condition.
  • a quantity of metal melted at one operation.
  • [with modifier] North American a sandwich, hamburger, or other dish containing or topped with melted cheese: a tuna melt

Phrases

melt in the mouth

(of food) be deliciously light or tender and need little chewing: they ate lamb which melted in the mouth

Phrasal Verbs

melt down

  • 1collapse or break down disastrously: many expected him to melt down at the first sign of trouble
  • 2(of a nuclear reactor) undergo a catastrophic failure as a result of the fuel overheating: if the pumps that cool the reactor core become disabled the core could begin to overheat, and the reactor could melt down

Derivatives

meltable

adjective

melter

noun

meltingly

adverb

Origin:

Old English meltan, mieltan, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse melta 'to malt, digest', from an Indo-European root shared by Greek meldein 'to melt', Latin mollis 'soft', also by malt