Category:Melt

Melt, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See 2d Milt.

melt Melt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Melted (obs.) p. p. Molten; p. pr. & vb. n. Melting.] Etym: [AS. meltan; akin to Gr. malt, and prob. to E. smelt, v. Smelt, v., Malt, Milt the spleen.]

1. To reduce from a solid to a liquid state, as by heat; to liquefy; as, to mell 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. Shak. For pity melts the mind to love. Dryden.

Syn. -- To liquefy; fuse; thaw; mollify; soften.

melt Melt, v. 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. Shak.

4. To lose distinct form or outline; to blend. 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.