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Webster 1913 Edition


Melt

Melt

(mĕlt)
,
Noun.
(Zool.)
See 2d
Milt
.

Melt

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Melted
(obs.)
p. p.
Molten
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Melting
.]
[AS.
meltan
; akin to Gr.
μέλδειν
, E.
malt
, and prob. to E.
smelt
, v. √108. Cf.
Smelt
,
Verb.
,
Malt
,
Milt
the spleen.]
1.
To reduce from a solid to a liquid state, as by heat; to liquefy;
as, to
melt
wax, tallow, or lead; to
melt
ice or snow.
2.
Hence:
To soften, as by a warming or kindly influence; to relax; to render gentle or susceptible to mild influences; sometimes, in a bad sense, to take away the firmness of; to weaken.
Thou would’st have . . .
melted
down thy youth.
Shakespeare
For pity
melts
the mind to love.
Dryden.
Syn. – To liquefy; fuse; thaw; mollify; soften.

Melt

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be changed from a solid to a liquid state under the influence of heat;
as, butter and wax
melt
at moderate temperatures
.
2.
To dissolve;
as, sugar
melts
in the mouth
.
3.
Hence:
To be softened; to become tender, mild, or gentle; also, to be weakened or subdued, as by fear.
My soul
melteth
for heaviness.
Ps. cxix. 28.
Melting
with tenderness and kind compassion.
Shakespeare
4.
To lose distinct form or outline; to blend. See
fondue
.
The soft, green, rounded hills, with their flowing outlines, overlapping and
melting
into each other.
J. C. Shairp.
5.
To disappear by being dispersed or dissipated;
as, the fog
melts
away
.
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Melt

MELT

,
Verb.
T.
[Eng.smelt,smalt. We have in these words decisive evidence that s, in smelten, &c. is a prefix. Melt, in English, is regular, forming melted for its past tense and passive participle. The old participle molten, is used only as an adjective.]
1.
To dissolve; to make liquid; to liquefy; to reduce from a solid to a liquid or flowing state by heat; as, to melt wax, tallow or lead; to melt ice or snow.
2.
To dissolve; to reduce to first principles.
3.
To soften to love or tenderness.
For pity melts the mind to love.
4.
To waste away; to dissipate.
In general riot melted down thy youth.
5.
To dishearten. Josh.14.

MELT

,
Verb.
I.
To become liquid; to dissolve; to be changed from a fixed or solid to a flowing state.
And whiter snow in minutes melts away.
1.
To be softened to love, pity, tenderness or sympathy; to become tender, mild or gentle.
Melting with tenderness and mild compassion.
2.
To be dissolved; to lose substance.
--And what seem'd corporal,
Melted as breath into the wind.
3.
To be subdued by affliction; to sink into weakness.
My soul melteth for heaviness--strengthen thou me. Ps.119.
4.
To faint; to be discouraged or disheartened.
As soon as we heard these things, our heart melted. Josh.2.

Definition 2024


mélt

mélt

See also: melt

Hungarian

Verb

mélt

  1. (obsolete) to be proper

Derived terms