MELT (molten)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: molten   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does melt mean? 

• MELT (noun)
  The noun MELT has 1 sense:

1. the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid

  Familiarity information: MELT used as a noun is very rare.

• MELT (verb)
  The verb MELT has 6 senses:

1. reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating

2. become or cause to become soft or liquid

3. become more relaxed, easygoing, or genial

4. lose its distinct outline or shape; blend gradually

5. become less clearly visible or distinguishable; disappear gradually or seemingly

6. become less intense and fade away gradually

  Familiarity information: MELT used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MELT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

melt; melting; thaw; thawing

Context example:

the thawing of a frozen turkey takes several hours

Hypernyms ("melt" is a kind of...):

heating; warming (the process of becoming warmer; a rising temperature)

phase change; phase transition; physical change; state change (a change from one state (solid or liquid or gas) to another without a change in chemical composition)

Derivation:

melt (become or cause to become soft or liquid)

melt (reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating)

• MELT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they melt    ... he / she / it melts   
Past simple: melted   
Past participle: melted   
-ing form: melting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

melt; melt down; run

Context example:

The wax melted in the sun

Hypernyms (to "melt" is one way to...):

break up; dissolve; resolve (cause to go into a solution)

Verb group:

bleed; run (be diffused)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "melt"):

fuse (make liquid or plastic by heating)

render; try (melt (fat or lard) in order to separate out impurities)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

melt (the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid)

meltable (capable of melting)

melting (the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become or cause to become soft or liquid

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

dethaw; dissolve; melt; thaw; unfreeze; unthaw

Context example:

dethaw the meat

Hypernyms (to "melt" is one way to...):

flux; liquefy; liquify (become liquid or fluid when heated)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "melt"):

deliquesce (melt or become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air)

de-ice; defrost; deice (make or become free of frost or ice)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

melt (the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid)

meltable (capable of melting)

melter (a worker who melts substances (metal or wax etc.))

melting (the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become more relaxed, easygoing, or genial

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

mellow; mellow out; melt

Context example:

With age, he mellowed

Hypernyms (to "melt" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

mellow (soften, make mellow)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Lose its distinct outline or shape; blend gradually

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

meld; melt

Context example:

Hundreds of actors were melting into the scene

Hypernyms (to "melt" is one way to...):

blend; coalesce; combine; commingle; conflate; flux; fuse; immix; meld; merge; mix (mix together different elements)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Become less clearly visible or distinguishable; disappear gradually or seemingly

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

fade; melt

Context example:

The tree trunks are melting into the forest at dusk

Hypernyms (to "melt" is one way to...):

weaken (become weaker)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 6

Meaning:

Become less intense and fade away gradually

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

disappear; evaporate; melt

Context example:

her hopes evaporated after years of waiting for her fiance

Hypernyms (to "melt" is one way to...):

weaken (become weaker)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

 Context examples 

As it melted and dropped upon the stove it sizzled and rose about him in steam.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

She looked at him a swift instant, and her eyes were radiant and melting.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"See what you have done!" she screamed. "In a minute I shall melt away."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

He had broken through the melting snow crust, and wallowed, while the snowshoe rabbits had skimmed along on top lightly as ever.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Here I was suddenly melted, and roared out, “No, you haven't, Mrs. Gummidge,” in great mental distress.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Indeed they thought not of him; for soon the fog begin to melt away, and all was clear again.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Then the servant led her away; but his heart melted when Snowdrop begged him to spare her life, and he said, “I will not hurt you, thou pretty child.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

As the pace of warming oceans and melting glaciers and ice sheets accelerated, scientists expected to see a corresponding increase in the rate of sea level rise.

(Volcanic eruption masked acceleration in sea level rise, NSF)

The fastest-changing glacier of the three (Smith Glacier) is melting nearly six times as fast as a previous estimate for this region, losing up to 230 feet in ice thickness each year.

(Studies Offer New Glimpse of Melting Under Antarctic Glaciers, NASA)

A tablet that dissolves or melts quickly (usually within a matter of seconds) when it comes into contact with a liquid.

(Disintegrating Tablet Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)