MELTING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Melting

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/mˈɛltɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Melt v. t. (past melted; past part. molten; pres. part. melting)

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.

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." "For pity melts the mind to love."

Synonyms: To liquefy; fuse; thaw; mollify; soften.

Melt v. i. (past melted; past part. molten; pres. part. melting)

To be changed from a solid to a liquid state under the influence of heat; as, butter and wax melt at moderate temperatures.

To dissolve; as, sugar melts in the mouth.

Hence: To be softened; to become tender, mild, or gentle; also, to be weakened or subdued, as by fear. "My soul melteth for heaviness." "Melting with tenderness and kind compassion."

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."

To disappear by being dispersed or dissipated; as, the fog melts away.

noun

Melting n. Liquefaction; the act of causing (something) to melt, or the process of becoming melted.

Melting point (Chem.), the degree of temperature at which a solid substance melts or fuses; as, the melting point of ice is 0° Centigrade or 32° Fahr., that of urea is 132° Centigrade. Pressure affects the melting point somewhat, and if not specified the melting point is usually taken to be at atmospheric pressure.

adjective

Melting adj. Causing to melt; becoming melted; used literally or figuratively; as, a melting heat; a melting appeal; a melting mood.

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Etymology of 'Melting'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Melting" Quotes from Famous Books

... I never saw so much Beauty. Oh the Charms of those sprightly black Eyes, that strangely fair Face, full of Smiles and Dimples! those soft round melting cherry Lips! and small even white Teeth! not to be exprest, but silently adored!— Oh one Look more, and strike me dumb, or I shall repeat nothing else till I am mad. [He seems to court her to pull off her ...

— The Works of Aphra Behn, Vol. I (of 6) • Aphra Behn

... of young M'Coy, it is said, was heroic beyond his years. Instead of melting with his disconsolate mother, he exhorted her like one who had acted on principle, and now felt its divine consolations stronger ...

— The Life of General Francis Marion • Mason Locke Weems

... other, and each ceased to feel his own sorrow, and was conscious only of that of his friend. They clasped their hands. In both there was sad serenity. Gently, while no wind stirred, the misty veil was raised: the blue sky shone forth again. The melting sweetness of the earth after rain.... So near to us, so tender!... The earth takes us in her arms, clasps us to her bosom with a lovely loving smile, ...

— Jean Christophe: In Paris - The Market-Place, Antoinette, The House • Romain Rolland

... became afterwards his life-work. "He happened to take up a thin scale of India-rubber," says his biographer, "peeled from a bottle, and it was suggested to his mind that it would be a very useful fabric if it could be made uniformly so thin, and could be so prepared as to prevent its melting and sticking together in a solid mass." Often afterward he had a vivid presentiment that he was destined by ...

— The Junior Classics • Various

... seem so bad. "To-night it is flat calm; the sun so warm that in spite of the temperature we can stand about outside in the greatest comfort. It is amusing to stand thus and remember the constant horrors of our situation as they were painted for us: the sun is melting the snow on the ski, etc. The plateau is now very flat, but we are still ascending slowly. The sastrugi are getting more confused, predominant from the S.E. I wonder what is in store for us. At present everything seems to be going with extraordinary smoothness.... We feel ...

— The Worst Journey in the World, Volumes 1 and 2 - Antarctic 1910-1913 • Apsley Cherry-Garrard

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