See Also: melt(medicine)
melt(1)(dictionary)
melt(2)(dictionary)
melt(dictionary)
Chicken Avocado Melt(recipes)
Swiss Melt Chicken(recipes)
Tropical Turkey Melt(recipes)
Deluxe Turkey Pita Melt(recipes)
Chocolate Hazelnut & Goat Cheese Melt(recipes)

melt(2) (iou)



melt verb. .
[Old English (i) strong verb meltan, (ii) (Anglian) weak verb meltan, (West Saxon) mieltan = Old Norse melta, from base also of MALT noun, repr. Indo-European base also of Greek meldein melt, Latin mollis, Sanskrit mdu soft. Cf. MILD, SMELT verb1.]
I. verb intrans.
Become liquefied by heat; (foll. by away) be destroyed by liquefaction; (foll. by down) become liquid and lose structure. OE.
E. Waugh The frost broke; the snow melted away. I. McEwan He stared ahead at the large flakes melting on contact with the windscreen. Scientific American There would be no possibility that the fuel core would melt down.
b. Of a person: perspire excessively, suffer extreme heat. colloq. L18.
a. Orig., (of food) be digested. Later, become disintegrated, liquefied, or softened, esp. by the agency of moisture; dissolve. OE.
b. Of clouds etc.: be dispersed; break into rain. LME.
W. Black The clouds had melted into a small and chilling rain.
c. Vanish, disappear; (foll. by away) depart unobtrusively. E17.
A. Thirkell David..melted from the room. E. Waugh Popotakis's old clients melted away to other..resorts. M. Underwood He didn't hang around afterwards..he melted away.
a. Be overwhelmed with dismay or grief. OE-E17.
Bible (AV): Joshua 2:11 Our hearts did melt, neither did there remaine any more courage in any man.
b. Become softened by pity, love, etc.; yield to entreaty; dissolve into tears or laughter. ME.
Steele She melted into a Flood of Tears. J. W. Burgon At sight of the dusty..urchins, his heart evidently melted.
c. Foll. by away: become ecstatic. rare. E18.
William Collins There let me oft, retir'd by day In dreams of passion melt away.
Waste away, become gradually smaller; dwindle down to a particular point or condition. ME.
Shakespeare Anthony & Cleopatra Authority melts from me. Ld Macaulay The host which had been the terror of Scotland melted away. M. Twain When one..sees his resources melt down to a two-months' supply.
Filter in, become absorbed into. LME.
Shelley Like fiery dews that melt Into the bosom of a frozen bud.
Of sound: be soft and liquid. E17.
S. Rogers The enchanting serenade..melts along the moonlight-glade.
Pass by imperceptible degrees into another form. L18.
W. Cowper Downs..That melt and fade into the distant sky. Hugh Walpole Cool brown colours melting into the blue or grey of the sky.
II. verb trans.
a. Liquefy by heat; (foll. by away) cause to disappear by liquefaction; (foll. by down) change (coin, plate, etc.) by heat into liquid metal for use as raw material; (foll. by up) fashion (an object) from molten metal. OE.
melted butter: see BUTTER noun1 1.
J. Tyndall A sun or planet once molten, would continue for ever molten. G. Greene I am melting down some old family silver. F. Hoyle If all that ice were melted, the resulting water would raise sea level by perhaps 80 metres. Holiday Which? Workshops contain furnaces for melting the blister steel.
b. Liquefy by heat and refashion (an object) into another shape; form (an image etc.) out of molten material. LME-E17.
Bible (AV): Isaiah 40:19 The workeman melteth a grauen image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it ouer with golde.
c. Cause (a person) to perspire excessively, subject to extreme heat. colloq. L17.
a. Orig., digest. Later, dissolve, make a solution of. OE.
P. Barrough A Syrupe is of medicines a juyce with Sugar or Hony molten therin.
b. Disintegrate, loosen (soil). E17-E18.
Disperse, cause to disappear. Also foll. by away. ME.
F. Parkman Cold, disease, famine, thirst, and the fury of the waves melted them away.
a. Foll. by away: cause to become ecstatic. rare. ME.
Addison Alas, thy Story melts away my Soul.
b. Soften (a person, the feelings, etc.) by appealing to pity, love, etc.; touch. Freq. as melted ppl adjective. LME.
R. K. Narayan The thought of her melted him. M. Fitzherbert His heart was melted.
Weaken, enervate. Also, foll. by down. L16-E18.
Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing Manhood is melted into curtsies, valour into compliment.
Spend, squander (money). Also, cash (a cheque etc.). Chiefly arch. slang. E17.
Blend (individual components) into one mass of colour, sound, etc. L18.
W. Black Mist..melted whole mountains into a soft dull grey.
melta'bility noun (rare) ability to be melted M19.
meltable adjective able to be melted E17.
melty adjective melting E20.