melt

1 of 3

verb

melted; melting; melts

intransitive verb

1
: to become altered from a solid to a liquid state usually by heat
2
a
: dissolve, disintegrate
the sugar melted in the coffee
b
: to disappear as if by dissolving
her anger melted at his kind words
3
obsolete : to become subdued or crushed (as by sorrow)
4
: to become mild, tender, or gentle
5
: to lose outline or distinctness : blend

transitive verb

1
: to reduce from a solid to a liquid state usually by heat
2
: to cause to disappear or disperse
3
: to make tender or gentle : soften
meltability noun
meltable adjective
melter noun

melt

2 of 3

noun (1)

1
a
: material in the molten state
b
: the mass melted at a single operation or the quantity melted during a specified period
2
a
: the action or process of melting or the period during which it occurs
the spring melt
b
: the condition of being melted
3
: a sandwich with melted cheese
a tuna melt

melt

3 of 3

noun (2)

: spleen
especially : spleen of slaughtered animals for use as feed or food

Examples of melt in a Sentence

Verb The butter melted in the frying pan. The snow is finally melting. She melted butter in the frying pan. a tablespoon of melted butter Their determination melted in the face of opposition. She melted at his kindly words. Her heart melted with compassion.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Some things, morbid curiosities: a bullet, freshly fired, spinning and melting the rubber on the track surrounding the school's football field. Meg Anderson, NPR, 19 Apr. 2024 The intense rosemary note and impeccable, melting texture make for a perfect bite. Jolene Thym, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024 In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Adriene Rathbun, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Apr. 2024 The agency said Yoto has received six reports from U.S. consumers and one from a U.K. consumer of the speaker overheating or melting. Sarah Al-Arshani, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024 Add scallion greens, butter, lemon zest, and olives or capers (if using) to the pan, stirring until the butter melts. Melissa Clark, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Apr. 2024 Meanwhile, to prepare the glaze, melt the candy bars with the butter and water until the mixture is smooth. Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 6 Apr. 2024 Finally, and perhaps most important, hotter temperatures will cause the snowpack to melt more rapidly, causing two opposite problems. Ned Kleiner, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024 Either way, scientists determined the animal was the rare offspring of a polar bear that mated with a grizzly, and as the Arctic melts and polar bears increasingly move on land, sightings of these hybrids are on the rise. Ella Nilsen, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
Noun
Keep in mind, some patches of slick ice could refreeze from daytime melt. A. Camden Walker, Washington Post, 21 Jan. 2024 Bake on bottom rack 13-15 minutes, until cheese melts and bottom is brown. Rita Nader Heikenfeld, The Enquirer, 17 Feb. 2024 But as ice disappears, those areas absorb more solar energy, raising land surface temperatures, which can cause further melt and other negative impacts. Angela Dewan, CNN, 13 Feb. 2024 As a result, ice melt and warming in the Arctic gets worse. Simrin Singh, CBS News, 6 Mar. 2024 Ice melt also increases the amount of water in lakes, where water absorbs more heat than snow, which increases land surface temperatures. Angela Dewan, CNN, 13 Feb. 2024 Future sea-level rise mainly depends on future ice melt, which depends on future greenhouse gas emissions. E&e News, Scientific American, 20 Nov. 2023 Armed with the size and number of impactors, Marchi and colleagues built a model that describes, as a function of time, the volume of melt this battering must have produced at the Earth’s surface. Alka Tripathy-Lang, Ars Technica, 26 Jan. 2024 Some of the flooding that's impacting the Midwest and the Northeast is due to the heavy rain on top of snow melt and ice jams. Max Golembo, ABC News, 26 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'melt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English meltan; akin to Old Norse melta to digest, Greek meldein to melt — more at mollify

Noun (2)

Middle English milte, from Old English; akin to Old High German miltzi spleen

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (1)

1847, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of melt was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near melt

Cite this Entry

“Melt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melt. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

melt

1 of 2 verb
1
: to change from a solid to a liquid state usually through heat
melt butter
snow melts
2
: dissolve sense 1
the sugar melted in the coffee
3
: to grow less : disappear
clouds melting away
4
: to make or become gentle : soften
a warm smile melts the heart
5
: to lose clear outline or shape : blend, merge
melter noun

melt

2 of 2 noun
: a melted substance

More from Merriam-Webster on melt

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