melt

views updated Jun 27 2018

melt / melt/ • v. [intr.] 1. become liquefied by heat: place under the broiler until the cheese has melted the icebergs were melting away. ∎  [tr.] change (something) to a liquid condition by heating it: the hot metal melted the wax | [as adj.] (melted) asparagus with melted butter. ∎  [tr.] (melt something down) melt something, esp. a metal article, so that the material it is made of can be used again: beautiful objects are being melted down and sold for scrap. ∎  dissolve in liquid: add a cup of sugar and boil until the sugar melts.2. become more tender or loving: she was so beautiful that I melted. ∎  [tr.] make (someone) more tender or loving: Richard gave her a smile that melted her heart.3. [intr.] leave or disappear unobtrusively: the compromise was accepted and the opposition melted away | the figure melted into thin air. ∎  (of a feeling or state) disappear: their original determination to exact vengeance melted away. ∎  (melt into) change or merge imperceptibly into (another form or state): the cheers melted into gasps of admiration.• n. an act of melting: the precipitation falls as snow and is released during the spring melt. ∎  metal or other material in a melted condition. ∎  an amount melted at any one time. ∎  a sandwich, hamburger, or other dish containing or topped with melted cheese: a tuna melt.PHRASES: melt in the (or your) mouth (of food) be deliciously light or tender and need little or no chewing: my shortbread melts in the mouth | [as adj.] melt-in-your-mouth chicken livers. DERIVATIVES: melt·a·ble adj.melt·er n.melt·ing·ly adv.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.

melt

views updated May 08 2018

melt Liquid part of silicate magma. Magma may consist solely of melt, or of melt and suspended crystals. ‘Wet’ melt contains dissolved volatile constituents, mainly water. Conversely, anhydrous melts, without volatiles, are referred to as ‘dry’ melts.

melt

views updated Jun 08 2018

melt liquefy or be liquefied by heat. OE. (1) str. vb. me(a)ltan :- Gmc. *meltan, (2) wk. vb. (Angl.) meltan, (WS.) mieltan = ON. melta digest, malt (grain):- Gmc. *maltjan (cf. ON. maltr rotten, OHG. malz melting, Goth. gamalteins dissolution). The base *melt- *malt- *mult- repr. IE. *meld- *mold- *mll̇d-, whence Gr. méldein melt, L. mollis, Skr. mrl̇dú soft. The str. pp. molten survives as adj.