meltn.1
/mɛlt/, U.S. /mɛlt/ English regional in later use.
A disease affecting, or thought to affect, the spleen; (later) spec. a fluke infestation. Cf. rot n.1 3a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of sheep > [noun]
meltc1583
heart rot1807
c1583 A. Montgomerie Poems (1910) 152 The pelodie, the palsie,..þe mair, the migram, þe mureill, þe melt.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. ix. 177/1 Melt of Sheep, an abundance of Blood, which must be taken from them.
1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester 94 Milt or Melt,..the fluke in sheep.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† meltn.2
Obsolete.
The maguey or American aloe, Agave americana.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Amaryllidaceae > [noun] > types of
maguey1555
melt1605
pancratium1664
aloe1665
pita1698
mescal1709
maypole1750
agave1760
poison bulb1776
kukumakranka1793
furcraea1821
zephyranthes1821
century plant1827
mescal button1887
tequila plant1979
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 291 There mountes the Melt [Fr. Là se pousse le Melt] which serues in Mexico, For weapon, wood, needle, and threed (to sowe).
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. Melt, a tree in Mexico, being well ordered, serues for weapons, needle, and threed, suger, Hony, Sucket, Balme, Wine, Cords, Parchment, Lines, Perfume, and apparell.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2018).
meltn.3
/mɛlt/, U.S. /mɛlt/ I. A substance which has melted, and related senses.
1.
a. A quantity of metal melted at one operation.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > metal in specific state or form > [noun] > molten metal > amount of
melt1847
melt1903
1847 Commerc. Rev. South & West June 531 A melt is made up by arithmetical calculation, from bars of the class A.,..so that the result of melting and mixing may produce ingots 900-1000ths fine.
1886 Rep. Sec. U.S. Treasury 175 12,867 melts of ingots were made for coinage during the year.
1890 A. H. Hiorns Mixed Metals 309 The 75,000 ounces of gold were divided into 14 ‘melts’ of 5,400 ounces each, and each melt separately toughened.
1904 Internat. Libr. Technol., Specif. 61 Melt, a charge of metal placed in a cupola or pot for melting. The product of such a charge is also called a melt.
1991 Acta Metallurgica et Materialia 39 2670/2 Experimental melts of 4 kg were made by vacuum induction melting of commercial electrolytic charge iron and chromium.
b. The quantity of metal melted within a certain period. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > metal in specific state or form > [noun] > molten metal > amount of
melt1847
melt1903
1903 Daily Rec. & Mail 28 Dec. 2/3 The melt of this class of iron, especially in Scotland, has been exceptionally heavy.
2. A substance in a melted condition, esp. a metal or mineral at high temperature. Later also: spec. meltwater. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > [noun] > melted substance
meltings1558
colliquament1657
melt1854
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials having undergone process > [noun] > melted
melt1854
1854 Pharm. Jrnl. & Trans. 13 432 The ‘melt’ obtained in the manufacture of Ferrocyanide of Potassium.
1868 W. Whitman To Working Men 6 Iron works..men around feeling the melt with huge crowbars.
1886 E. Knecht tr. R. Benedikt Chem. Coal-tar Colours 216 Melting with caustic acid... The melt is then allowed to cool.
1932 Proc. Inst. Brit. Foundrymen 24 122 The process of putting graphite back into the melt is conveniently referred to as ‘inoculation’.
1962 J. H. Simpson & R. S. Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors iii. 39 A small single crystal, known as the seed crystal, is inserted in the melt and withdrawn slowly in the vertical direction.
1966 New Statesman 22 Apr. 591/2 Pan American has now chucked a large, expected crystal into the melt by ordering 25 jumbo-jets from Boeing.
1988 Equinox (Camden East, Ont.) Nov. 68/1 Rising as pure glacial melt high in the Rocky Mountains west of Jasper, it runs a ragged course northwest to Prince George.
3. North American. With modifying word or words: a sandwich, hamburger, etc., containing or topped with melted cheese.
ΚΠ
1956 Diner, Drive-in Sept. 51/1 (caption) Taste-appealing ‘Patty-Melt’—grilled cheese and a hamburger patty.
1970 Nation's Restaurant News 27 Apr. 15/1 (advt.) Serve the Beef 'n Cheese Melt!.. Grill it, and the cheese melts over the beef for a flavor combination that'll start 'em cheering!
1978 Forbes 17 Apr. 91 All agree a $2 Patty Melt at Denny's is a bargain.
1989 D. Leavitt Equal Affections 17 He made tuna melts on seven-grain bread.
1994 Bon Appétit July 82/2 (heading) Open-face Monterey Jack melt. Team the sandwich with tortilla chips and carrot sticks.
II. The action of melting.
4. The thawing of ice, snow, etc.; the period during which this occurs. Frequently attributive. on the melt: in the process of melting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > melting [phrase]
on the melt1897
1897 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 362 The rush of two streams into one another, both being buxom with snow on the melt.
1944 Neues Jahrb. f. Mineral., Geol., u. Palaeontol. 241 The presence of late glacial loess deposits..indicate[s] that local glacial advances accompanied by loess formation took place during the latest melt period of the last ice age.
1957 Jrnl. Glaciol. 3 20 Widely spaced melt borders composed of volcanic ash are considered to have been produced by volcanic eruptions within the ice fields.
1987 D. Hall Seasons at Eagle Pond i. 19 Our annual melt is the wild, messy, glorious loosening of everything tight.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
meltv.1
/mɛlt/, U.S. /mɛlt/α. Old English meltan.
β. Old English meltan, Old English miltan, Old English myltan.
γ. Middle English malt, Middle English malte, Middle English melltenn ( Ormulum), Middle English molte, Middle English mult, Middle English multe, Middle English–1500s mealt, Middle English–1500s mealte, Middle English–1500s melte, Middle English–1500s mylt, Middle English–1500s mylte, Middle English– melt, 1500s moult; Scottish pre-1700 malte, pre-1700 meelte, pre-1700 molt, pre-1700 1700s– melt.
Past tenseα. Old English mealt (1st and 3rd singular indicative), Old English multon (plural indicative).
γ. Middle English malt, Middle English malte, Middle English melt, Middle English meltid, Middle English meltyde, Middle English moltid, Middle English molton (plural), Middle English–1500s molte, 1500s molt, 1500s molted, 1500s moulte, 1500s– melted, 1600s moult; Scottish pre-1700 1700s– melted, pre-1700 1700s– meltit.
Past participleα. Old English gemolten.
β. Old English gemælted, Old English gemelt, Old English gemelted, Old English gemeltid, Old English gemylted, Old English gemyltyd, Old English melt.
γ. Middle English ȝemylted, Middle English imealt, Middle English imelt, Middle English imelte, Middle English imeltid, Middle English imolte, Middle English imolten, Middle English imulten, Middle English meltede, Middle English meltid, Middle English meltide, Middle English meltyd, Middle English meltyn, Middle English moltan, Middle English moltid, Middle English molton, Middle English moltone, Middle English moltoun, Middle English moltun, Middle English moltyn, Middle English moltyne, Middle English multen, Middle English multyn, Middle English mylt, Middle English mylten, Middle English ymelte, Middle English ymeltede, Middle English ymolten, Middle English–1500s melten, Middle English–1500s ymolt, Middle English–1600s melt, Middle English–1600s molt, Middle English–1600s molte, Middle English–1600s moult, Middle English– melted, Middle English– molten (now archaic), 1500s moulted, 1500s–1600s molted, 1600s mealted, 1600s moulten, 1700s ymolten (archaic); Scottish pre-1700 meltyn, pre-1700 meltyne, pre-1700 molten, pre-1700 moltin, pre-1700 moltine, pre-1700 moltyn, pre-1700 moltyne, pre-1700 moltynnyd, pre-1700 moltynnyt, pre-1700 1700s– melted, pre-1700 1700s– meltit.
To liquefy, dissolve, or disperse, and related senses.† 6. transitive. To weaken, to reduce in strength or vitality. Also (occasionally) intransitive and reflexive. Obsolete.
1. † c. intransitive. To become intelligible. Cf sense 5a. Obsolete. rare.† g. transitive. To break up or loosen (soil). Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To become disintegrated, liquefied, or softened, esp. by the action of moisture; to dissolve. to melt in the mouth: (of food) to dissolve or disintegrate in the mouth with little or no chewing; (hence) to be unusually and delectably soft and smooth in texture; cf. (as if) butter wouldn't melt in his (also her, etc.) mouth at butter n.1 Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > melt [verb (intransitive)]
melteOE
dissolve?c1450
discandya1616
fuse1800
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > deteriorate in condition [verb (intransitive)] > decompose, crumble, or melt away
melteOE
fleetc1384
dissolvec1420
unbindc1450
loosec1480
moulder1531
mirtlec1540
mould1542
moulter1568
mutter1609
mosker1612
disband1633
dust1636
dissipatea1676
deliquesce1792
decompose1793
disintegrate1817
society > occupation and work > materials > types of material generally > [verb (intransitive)] > melt
melteOE
fuse1800
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > savouriness > have a pleasant taste [verb (intransitive)]
relish1580
to melt in the mouth1693
the world > food and drink > food > consistency of food > [verb (intransitive)] > melt in mouth
to melt in the mouth1693
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xvi. 196 Sele him þa mettas þa þe ne sien to raðe gemelte, late mylt hryþeres flæsc gæten & hiorota.
OE Exodus 485 Wægas burston, multon meretorras, þa se mihtiga sloh mid halige hand..on werbeamas.
OE Harley Gloss. (1966) 176 Fatiscit,..dissoluitur,..desinit, mylt.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1017 So malt ðat mete in hem to nogt, So a watres drope in a fier brogt.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 314v Salt hardeþ in fuyre and melteþ in water.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 70 Trauaill yn ridynge..kyndels hete of þe stomake..and makes þe superfluous humours to melte.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xv The clottes kepe the whete warme all wynter And at March they wyll melte and breke & fall in many smale peces.
1647 T. Reeve Lazarus his Rest 7 The hidden Mannah is already melting in his mouth, the robe of glory is upon his back.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Direct. conc. Melons 1 in Compl. Gard'ner [Melons] which be..dry, yet melting in the Mouth.
1765 W. Stevenson Orig. Poems I. 244 With mellow pears luxuriant hung, That melt in pulpy fatness on the tongue.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. iv. 43 Can she make your real flecky paste, as melts in your mouth, and lies all up like a puff?
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It xxx. 220 The sun-burned bricks melted down like sugar and the big building crumbled to a ruin and was washed away in a twinkling.
a1916 J. London Water Baby in On Makaloa Mat (1919) 156 So tender that he will melt in our gullets ere our bellies receive him.
1954 E. Taylor Hester Lilly 127 She lifted the lump of sugar out of her coffee to see how much of it had melted.
1979 M. Cunningham & J. Laber Fannie Farmer Cookbk. (1988) 678 Humid weather can affect both hard and soft candies, causing them to ‘melt’.
1999 City Paper (Baltimore) 6 Jan. 25/1 The chicken souvlaki..consisted of eight-inch skewers of tender, smoky chicken that practically melted in our mouths.
b. transitive. To make a solution of, to dissolve; (in Old English) †to digest (obsolete). Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of dissolving > dissolve [verb (transitive)]
melteOE
defy1393
dissolvea1475
decoct1540
remiss?1541
liquefy1547
solve1794
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xxvii. 220 Sio wamb seo þe bið hatre gecyndo sio melt mete wel.
?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 41 Nim cuppan fulle wæteres and sealt[es] and meng swyþe togadere, of þæt sealt moltan sy.
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 187v (MED) Stere alle to gidere til þe terbentyne be molte.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 6 Malt hit [sc. salt] in bryne.
1583 P. Barrough Methode of Phisicke vi. v. 281 A Syrupe is of medicines, a iuyce with sugar or honie molten therein.
1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Curiosities in Husbandry & Gardening 136 Nitre melted in Water..mixes itself with the Water.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1012 This re-union, or in the dairy phrase, melting the cream, is probably the best method practised.
1900 J. Conrad Lord Jim i. 2 A warmth of welcome that melts the salt of a three months' passage out of a seaman's heart.
ΚΠ
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 1566 He þat..make[s] þe mater to malt my mynde wythinne.
d. intransitive. Of clouds, mist, vapour, etc.: to dissolve or clear; to evaporate or disperse; to break into rain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > become cloudy or overcast [verb (intransitive)] > evaporate or be dispersed
meltc1400
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > become cloudy or overcast [verb (intransitive)] > break into rain
melt1604
burst1855
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 2080 (MED) Mist muged on þe mor, malt on þe mountez.
1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) xi. f. 143v Behold the clowdes did melt, And showers large came pooring downe.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies ii. vii. 98 A great aboundance of vapours from the Earth and Ocean..melt into water.
1689 C. Goodall Poems & Transl. 125 The Clouds all melt away!
1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman vii. 281 When the soft cloud is grasped, the form melts into common air.
1814 Ld. Byron Lara ii. i. 647 The vapours round the mountains curl'd, Melt into morn, and Light awakes the world.
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xxv. 415 The clouds had melted into a small and chilling rain.
1891 I. Zangwill Bachelor's Club 181 Large banks of clouds..melted into swishing showers.
1915 C. Mackenzie Guy & Pauline 163 The clouds..suddenly melted in a wild transplendency of gold.
1968 B. England Figures in Landscape 65 Then, as gently as it had come, the mist melted away, and the massif stood before them.
e. intransitive. figurative. Of a person, etc.: to vanish or disappear; to depart unobtrusively. Of a crowd: to disperse, esp. rapidly. Frequently with away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > be or become invisible [verb (intransitive)] > vanish or disappear
formeltc893
wendOE
witea1000
aworthc1000
fleec1200
fleetc1200
withdraw1297
vanish1303
voidc1374
unkithea1400
startc1405
disappearc1425
disparishc1425
to fall awayc1443
evanish?a1475
vade1495
sinka1500
vade1530
fly1535
fadea1538
melt?1567
dispear1600
relinquish1601
foist1603
dispersea1616
to vanish (melt, etc.) into thin aira1616
dissipate1626
retire1647
evaporate1713
merge1802
illude1820
to foam off1826
dislimn1833
furl1844
to step out1844
evanesce1855
shade1880
wisp1883
to go to the winds1884
walk1898
to do a disappearing act1913
to go west1916
to do (or take) a fade1949
to phase out1970
?1567 M. Parker Whole Psalter 135 God raysde hys voyce: and so in londe, our foes dyd melt away.
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xv. 15 Then the dukes of Edom shal be amased: the mighty men of Moab trembling shall take hold vpon them: all the inhabitants of Canaan shal melt away. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iii. iii. 36 With shriekes She melted into Ayre. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. iii. 20 I would haue..followed him, till he had melted from The smalnesse of a Gnat, to ayre. View more context for this quotation
1799 W. Scott tr. J. W. von Goethe Goetz of Berlichingen iii. 113 Officer. Shall we march? Captain. Yes, truly—Don't you know that a hundred are melted away already?
1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. xiv. 214 Like all that passing and gloomy scene, the low basin..melted in the darkness.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. xiv. 212 When caught, she melted from them again like a summer cloud.
1897 B. Stoker Dracula xvii. 224 The crowd melted away, after the bustling fashion common to arrival platforms.
1914 E. R. Burroughs Tarzan of Apes x. 128 So he turned his back upon the village of Mbonga and melted away into the leafy fastness of the forest.
1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades i. viii. 58 I could see no sign of Hamilton, and hoped he'd melted.
1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird vii. 72 People had started to melt, walking fast round the side of the house.
1993 U. Chatterjee Last Burden (1994) iii. 117 He proclaims that he's off to househunt, and melts away for the day.
f. transitive. figurative. To disperse, cause to disappear. Occasionally reflexive. Also with away. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > make invisible [verb (transitive)] > cause to vanish or disappear
formeltc893
consumea1398
vanishc1450
vapoura1475
obliterate1607
snuff1688
efface1843
melt1865
disappear1897
magic1906
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love Praeludium sig. A2v Echo..cursses the Spring wherein the pretty foolish Gentleman melted himselfe away. View more context for this quotation
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge i. v. sig. C2 Comfort's a Parasite, a flattring Iack: And melts resolu'd despaire.
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne i. i, in Wks. I. 531 Why, here's the man that can melt away his time, and neuer feeles it! View more context for this quotation
1820 P. B. Shelley Sensitive Plant in Prometheus Unbound 170 At night they [sc. the vapours] were darkness no star could melt.
1865 F. Parkman Huguenots i, in Pioneers of France in New World 8 Cold, disease, famine, thirst, and the fury of the waves, melted them away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > separate into constituents [verb (transitive)] > make less coherent
disgregate1603
melt1615
loosen1697
disaggregate1811
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 3 The soile is made better by deluing, and other meanes, being well melted.
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 7 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) If the Feeder be of any considerable Quantity, it will melt, or Dissolve the Earth.
2. (Also with adverbs: see senses to melt away, to melt down, to melt in, to melt up at Phrasal verbs.)
a. intransitive. To become liquefied by heat.
ΚΠ
OE Beowulf 3011 Ne scel anes hwæt meltan mid þam modigan.
OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Julius) 9 Mar. 31 Þa on niht com leoht of heofonum swa hat swa sunne bið on sumera, ond þæt is gemelte ond þæt wæter wearð wearm.]
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lvii. 7 Swa weax melteð.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 19 His heorte feng to heaten & his meari mealten.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. xvi. 21 Whenn þe sonne bygann to hete, it moltid.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 355 Whanne þat froste gan to þawe and to melte.
a1450 in T. Austin Two 15th-cent. Cookery-bks. (1888) 45 (MED) Take..grece & put þer-on ouer þe fyre tylle it melte.
c1450 (?a1400) T. Chestre Sir Launfal (1930) 740 Hyt malt as snow aȝens þe sunne.
1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre xlviii, in Posies sig. Hvi Whose greace hath molt all caffed as it was.
1589 R. Lane in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 741 They take a great bowle..and receiue into the same as much oare as will come in..which presently they cast into a fire, and forthwith it melteth.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. 206 When the snow melts from the Mountaines.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iv. xvi. 339 We see..the parts of a Candle successively melting, turn into flame, and give us both light and heat.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Metals When the copper and arsenic are mixed, the tin is to be put in; this soon melts.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. xi. 251 Four or five huts inhabited by fishers..lent the odoriferous vapours of pitch melting under a burning sun, to contend with those of the offals of fish.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. iii. 241 Ice before it melts attains a temperature of 30° Fahr.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker ii. 36 The ocean might dry up, the rocks melt in the sun..; and there was nothing in these incidents to boggle the philospher.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 862/2 It crystallizes in large transparent prisms, which melt on heating and decompose.
1987 Green Cuisine Feb. 12/2 Place the butter and spring onions in a small saucepan and cook over a moderate heat, until the butter has melted.
b. transitive. To liquefy by heat.In quot. OE2 with object implied.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > melt [verb (transitive)]
formeltc893
meltOE
dissolve1382
rend1558
eliquate1638
discoagulatea1658
fuse1681
OE Cynewulf Elene 1312 Hie asodene beoð, asundrod fram synnum, swa smæte gold þæt in wylme bið womma gehwylces þurh ofnes fyr eall geclænsod, amered ond gemylted.
OE tr. Medicina de Quadrupedibus (Vitell.) xi. 266 Nim leon gelynde & heortes mearg, mylt & gemeng tosomne.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 17417 & badd he shollde melltenn brass & ȝetenn himm an neddre.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 147 Þe chaliz..wes þerin imealt & strongliche iweallet.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) v. 10 Phebus..hadde alle with his bemes..The snowes molte.
1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 109 That no white money..be broke nor molte.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 922 Ykarus..fleigh so highe that the hete Hys wynges malt.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 8v Saturne..malte and fyned gold and metalles.
c1480 (a1400) St. Blaise 237 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 368 Þe presydent with fellone will gert melt leyd in fusione.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) iv. xxi. 1895 All the metall moltynnyd than In tyll a qwerne togydder ran.
?a1562 G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1959) 176 Rather than I wold..embesell or deceyve hyme of a myght I wold it ware molt & put in my mouthe.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Aurum..fusile, that may be molted.
1613 H. Austin tr. Ovid Scourge of Venus sig. C3v Or had the bed bene burnt with wilde fire all, And thereby moult the heauens golden frame.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems Notes 362 Ice..once melt by the warmth of the Sunne it becomes one with the rest of the sea.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 566 One who..two massie clods of Iron and Brass Had melted . View more context for this quotation
1682 E. Hickeringill Black Non-Conformist Postscr. sig. Y Go, then, you subtile Persecutors! fret, and be molt in your own fat.
1731 B. Franklin in Pennsylvania Gaz. 3–10 June 2/2 I shall continue my Business. I shall not burn my Press and melt my Letters.
a1756 E. Haywood New Present (1771) 43 Till the butter is all melted.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. xxii. 552 Under the tail of the larger ones [sc. crabs] there is a..mass of fat, which when melted sometimes yields as much as a quart bottle full of limpid oil.
1876 P. G. Tait Lect. Recent Adv. in Physical Sci. ii. 45 Davy showed..that the mere rubbing together by proper mechanical force of two pieces of ice was sufficient to melt the surface of each.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 868/2 In some the explosive is melted and poured into cardboard cases instead of being poured directly into the shell.
1957 H. S. Zim & P. R. Shaffer Rocks & Minerals 61 Superheated water is pumped down large pipes, melting the sulfur.
1988 T. Ferris Coming of Age in Milky Way (1989) i. i. 20 Its heat melted the wax in his wings.
c. transitive. To liquefy by heat and refashion (an object or material) into something else. Also: †to form (an image, etc.) out of molten material (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > melt
meltc1450
rind1526
fuse1681
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 273 He prayed þat all his tresurs, þat war of grete valow, mott be molten in-to a grete mace.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Isa. xl. 19 The workeman melteth an image.
1573 T. Cartwright Replye to Answere Whitgifte 28 The Jewes when they molted a golden calfe..did neuer thinke that to be God.
1577 R. Holinshed Hist. Eng. 167/1 in Chron. I A brasen Image, by maruellous arte melted and cast.
1582 G. Martin Discouerie Corrupt. Script. Heretikes iii. 56 Behold Eunomius, how he molted and cast a false image, and bowed to that which he had molten.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. xvi. 123 Another darkness was closing in as surely, when the church bells, then ringing pleasantly in many an airy steeple over France, should be melted into thundering cannon.
1889 Harper's Mag. July 264/1 If fire touches them it melts the invisible minerals into a glaze, which excludes the air.
1978 J. A. Michener Chesapeake xiii. 835 The intense heat of the gasoline fire had melted some of the dacron lines into blobs of expensive goo.
1991 C. Hill Tack 26 The ends of braided ropes are usually finished by heating the fibers to melt them into a seal.
d. intransitive. To liquefy metal, etc., by heat, esp. in preparation for casting.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > heat > melt
yeteOE
wella1250
melt1535
temper1535
to melt downa1586
conflate1664
lump1797
sweat1883
to melt up1888
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. vi. 29 The melter [1611 founder] melteth in vayne.
1683 J. Pettus tr. L. Ercker iv. ix. 304 in Fleta Minor i I conclude it better to melt with Coals, than with Moll.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 246 She came to me and told me one Morning that she was going to Melt, and if I would, she would put my Tankard in.
1988 Intercity July 7 (advt.) By melting at night... Energy costs for melting were reduced.
e. intransitive. Of a person: to suffer from the effects of extreme heat; to sweat excessively. Now colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretion of sweat > sweat [verb (intransitive)]
sweatc900
reekc1475
resudate1599
sudate1599
melt1614
transpire1648
perspire1684
perspirate1844
shvitz1957
1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia ix. 384 Their lims and ioynts in sweat do melt, Their mouths and iawes with thirst do swelt.
1773 P. Brydone Tour Sicily & Malta I. viii. 153 We are melting with heat, in thin suits of taffeta.
1820 J. Keats Lett., to Miss F. Brawne Mar. (1895) 476 I have no need of an enchanted wax figure to duplicate me, for I am melting in my proper person before the fire.
1903 Weekly Free Press & Aberdeen Herald in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1905) Suppl. 148/1 It's jist het eneuch for me. Aw'm fair meltin'.
1985 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 14 Feb. i. 1 ‘Just think, a week ago I was freezing to death, now I'm melting,’ the retired hairdresser said, wiping beads of sweat from his brow.
1999 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 26 July e1 Even Manilow..seemed to wilt a bit. ‘I'm melting,’ he cracked during the second half of the two-part, two-hour show.
f. transitive. colloquial. To cause (a person) to sweat excessively or to become hot to the point of exhaustion. rare.
ΚΠ
1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. 40 While Capt. Mosely took a little breath, who was almost melted with labouring, commanding, and leading his men.
1836 E. Howard Rattlin, the Reefer II. xvii. 222 ‘It melts me,’ responded the doctor, swabbing his face with the napkin.
3. † a. intransitive. [The examples in post-medieval versions of the Bible are literal translations of Hebrew idioms.] To be overwhelmed with dismay or grief. Obsolete.† d. transitive. to melt away: to overwhelm with grief or sorrow. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > feel sorrow or grief [verb (intransitive)] > be overwhelmed with grief
meltOE
consume1495
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > heat > melt > form image of molten metal
melt1560
OE Beowulf 2628 Ne gemealt him se modsefa.]
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxx. 8 Þonne me mægen and mod mylte on hreðre, ne forlæt þu me, lifiende god.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 434 (MED) I..melt neiȝh for mournyng.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 276 Nygh she meltith for pure wood.
c1480 (a1400) St. Adrian 470 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 285 Þat his hart for dred suld melt.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. iv. sig. Kiv My harte for wo, molte.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Psalms cxix. 28 My soule melteth [1535 Coverdale, melteth away] for heauines.
1611 Bible (King James) Josh. ii. 11 Our hearts did melt . View more context for this quotation
b. intransitive. To become softened by compassion, pity, love, etc.; to yield to entreaty; to dissolve into tears or laughter.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > compassion > feel pity or compassion [verb (intransitive)] > be moved by pity
melta1225
tender1390
yearna1500
earna1530
unfreeze1746
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > have tender feelings or be deeply moved [verb (intransitive)] > become softened by compassion or love
melta1225
to-melta1240
unfreeze1746
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > be mild, gentle, or tolerant [verb (intransitive)] > become
melta1225
to-melta1240
mollifya1530
relaxate1598
relax1688
mellow1737
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 145 Þat hie mihte..mealten and ut-sanden sume tear.
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 48 Þet on was..ðe oðres maries þet fleoweden & melten al of teares.
c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 487 (MED) Þe cristen mon Mildely gon malt.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iv. 367 This woful wight, this Troilus..Gan as the snow ayeyn the sonne melte.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xvi. sig. Fiv Harde is herte that no loue hath felte Nor for no loue wyll than enclyne and melte.
1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) lxxviii. R iv b My hart so molte to see his griefe so great.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. ii. sig. B6 Melting in teares, then gan shee thus lament.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) v. ii. 47 My heart hath melted at a Ladies teares. View more context for this quotation
1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 24 in Justa Edouardo King Look homeward Angel now, and melt with ruth.
1647 J. Sprigge Anglia Rediviva ii. ii. 72 And the Governour so far melted, as to send forth Tom Elliot in haste.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 104. ⁋7 She melted into a Flood of Tears.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. vi. 91 They now seemed all repentance, and melting into tears bid me farewell.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Ginevra in Posthumous Poems (1824) 235 Some melted into tears without a sob.
1857 C. Reade Course True Love 178 His resolve melted at this.
1888 J. W. Burgon Lives Twelve Good Men I. iii. 341 At sight of the dusty..urchins, his heart evidently melted.
1911 J. M. Barrie Peter & Wendy xi. 172 Crediting them with a nobler feeling Wendy melted.
1962 V. Nabokov Pale Fire 212 She melted in girlish mirth as she had not done for years.
1989 S. Forward Toxic Parents ii. xiii. 262 When Judy said that, I just melted.
c. transitive. To overwhelm, touch, or soften (a person, a person's feelings, etc.), esp. by appealing to pity, love, etc.; to persuade, bring round; to delight, thrill. Also (occasionally) intransitive. †to melt down: to subdue (a person, etc.). to melt to (also †in, into) tears: to cause to weep.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > treat with tenderness or hold dear [verb (transitive)] > soften or make tender
melta1382
toucha1400
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > treat gently [verb (transitive)] > make gentle or mild
soft?c1225
mild1340
melta1382
softenc1410
mollifya1450
amollish1474
amolify1483
ameeka1500
mellow1593
dulcify1647
the mind > emotion > compassion > quality of exciting pity > affect with pity [verb (transitive)]
rueOE
movea1325
enpitec1400
relent1509
pity1515
yearn1603
melt1605
bowel1645
tenderize1733
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > weep [verb (intransitive)] > burst or dissolve into tears
to burst a-weepc1275
distilc1374
still1412
to burst (out, forth) on weeping1564
dissolve1608
to melt to (also in, into) tears1609
to burst into tears1717
burst a-crying1825
blurt1830
to burst out crying1863
to break into weeping1866
to turn the tap(s) on1883
society > authority > subjection > subjecting or subjugation > subject [verb (transitive)] > make submissive
stoopc1275
to lead by the sleevec1425
to lead by the nose1583
subdue1598
woman1611
melt1668
to make a woman of1742
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Josh. vii. 5 Þe peple moche dradde & at þe liknes of watyr is moltyn [c1384 Douce 369(2) molten; a1425 L.V. was maad vnstidefast].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 24470 Þi saul es molten [a1400 Gött. multen] al to ded.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvii. 226 Þanne flaumbeth he as fyre on fader & on filius, And melteth her myȝte in-to mercy.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Mending of Life 129 (MED) Many truly ar multyn in teris & aftirwarde has turnyd to yll.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) cxlvii. 6 Men..hardynd in syn, that ere noght swa lightly meltid as snaw.
1605 B. Jonson Sejanus v. sig. Nv Then there begin your pitty, There is inough behin'd, to melt eu'n Rome, And Cæsar into teares. View more context for this quotation
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xv. 59 Nor let pittie..melt thee, but be a souldier to thy purpose. View more context for this quotation
1668 R. Steele Husbandmans Calling (1672) x. 251 You would be melted into submission, not forced: do you the like to them, melt them rather than force them.
1707 I. Watts Alas! & did my Saviour (hymn) v Dissolve my Heart in Thankfulness, And melt my Eyes to Tears.
a1716 R. South Serm. Several Occasions (1744) VII. 153 Nothing could have been spoke more gently, and yet more forcibly, to melt him down into a penitential sorrow for, and an abhorrence of those two foul deviations from the law of God.
1748 J. Thomson Castle of Indolence i. viii Till clustering round th' enchanter false they hung, Ymolten with his syren melody.
1818 T. Busby Gram. Music 483 A manly, yet tender quality of tone,..which melts and cheers at the same moment.
1845 W. L. Garrison in F. Douglass Narr. Life F. Douglass Pref. p. iii Fortunate for the multitudes..whose minds he has enlightened on the subject of slavery, and who have been melted to tears by his pathos.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 434 His solemn and pathetic exhortation awed and melted the bystanders to such a degree that [etc.].
1891 H. Lynch G. Meredith 88 Rhoda, melted to him, calls her sister down to happiness.
1903 J. Morley Life Gladstone I. iv. x. 615 The archbishop ordered a Te Deum. Neither te-deums nor prayers melted the heart of the British cabinet.
1937 R. K. Narayan Bachelor of Arts ix. 131 The thought of her melted him.
1950 W. Cooper Scenes Provinc. Life iv. iii. 248 In my opinion it was a car that would melt the heart of any boy.
1991 World Press Rev. Nov. 22/2 Soon you also learn how a few crisp dollar bills can melt sour-faced Soviet officials.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > rapture or ecstasy > be rapturous or ecstatic [verb (intransitive)] > go into ecstasies
to melt awaya1400
ecstasy1636
rapturize1832
ecstasiate1838
ecstasize1854
rapture1908
to bliss out1973
a1400 (?a1325) Medit. on Supper of our Lord (Harl.) (1875) 1001 Now certes my soule ys melted awey.
1713 J. Addison Cato i. iv. 11 Alas, thy Story melts away my Soul.
e. intransitive. To become ecstatic; to yield to rapture or delight; spec. to experience sexual orgasm. Formerly chiefly with away.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > rapture or ecstasy > be rapturous or ecstatic [verb (intransitive)] > be dissolved in ecstasy (of love or passion)
melt1698
1698 G. Granville Heroick Love ii. i. 19 So she hugg'd me, and with her darting Kisses Met me half way, as now she meets his Lips. How close she clings! and how with rapture melts!
1700 J. Hopkins Amasia III. 85 His lays the Nymphs, and Sylvans did rejoice, And ravish'd Maids lay melting at his Voice.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 160. ¶2 My Heart melted away in secret Raptures.
1747 W. Collins Odes 4 There let me oft, retir'd by Day, In Dreams of Passion melt away.
1747 J. Cawthorn Abelard to Eloisa 3 How weak fair Faith and Virtue prove! When Eloisa melts away in Love!
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure I. 213 Chiming then to me, with exquisite consent, as I melted away, his oily balsamic injection mixing deliciously with the sluices in flow from me.
a1846 G. Darley Poems (1850) 128 He melts in rapture as he heard the strain That angels move to!
1991 Entertainm. Weekly 1 Mar. 59/1 ‘One in a Million’ has the gushy romanticism that makes teenage girls melt.
4. † b. intransitive. Of the human body: to waste away. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To become gradually smaller, to dwindle or waste away; to disappear rapidly or progressively. Also spec. of a swelling or tumour: to disappear or diminish. Now chiefly with away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)] > gradually
meltc1225
dwindle1598
to die down1836
to trail off1845
to taper off (away, down)1848
to tail off (out)1854
to tail away1860
fritter1874
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > become reduced in size or extent [verb (intransitive)] > gradually
dwindle1598
melt1645
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Bodl.) (1934) 14 (MED) Þi mihte schal unmuclin & melten to riht noht.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 195 Þet al þe deofles strencðe..Malteð þurch þe grace of þe..sacrament.
a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 124 (MED) Alle cunne madmes to nocht sulen melten.
a1500 (c1400) St. Erkenwald (1977) 158 He has non layne here so longe..To malte so out of memorie.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme cvii. 71 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 172 Their might doth melt, their courage dies.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iii. xiii. 90 Authority melts from me of late. View more context for this quotation
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 160 His huge Armie melted away, and quickly became numerous.
1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn xiv, in Poems 7 Leprous sin will melt from earthly mould, And Hell it self will pass away.
1762 R. Guy Pract. Observ. Cancers 156 By Degrees the hard Tumour entirely melted down.
1794 E. Burke Let. 10 Jan. in Corr. (1844) IV. 213 The body of his party is melting away very fast.
1818 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto IV xii. 9 Nations melt From power's high pinnacle, when they have felt The sunshine for a while.
1860 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth IV. ix. 100 While her heart was troubled, her money was melting.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 279 Tumours in muscle..will wholly melt away under the influence of iodide of potassium.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 833/2 The south long remained oligarchic; in the north aristocracy slowly melted away.
1968 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 18 Apr. 892/1 Very small doses delivered to lymph nodes involved by Hodgkin's disease often made them melt away dramatically.
1986 D. Madden Hidden Symptoms (1988) 11 Her confidence in her judgment was wavering, melting away.
1988 Cycling Weekly 30 June 74/3 That 36-second lead melted away and as the last two miles came up they could feel the 18-strong bunch breathing down their necks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > of tissue: become diseased [verb (intransitive)] > decompose
meltc1300
putrefya1400
c1300 St. Wulstan (Laud) 198 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 76 A slouȝ feuere..made is bodi to melte a-wei.
c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 161 (MED) Mon melteþ a-wey so deþ a mouht.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 100v He þat is ibite of him [sc. the cocatrice] mylteþ & swelliþ and..dieþ sodeynlyche.
5.
a. intransitive. To filter, seep, become absorbed. With into, †within.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > incorporation or inclusion > assimilation or absorption > be assimilated or absorbed [verb (intransitive)]
to run into ——1570
melt1590
assimilate1763
subside1772
merge1802
inosculate1836
liquesce1920
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. ix. sig. Iv His subtile tong, like dropping honny, mealt'h Into the heart, and searcheth euery vaine.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. ii. 40 It was by such institutions that the nations of the empire insensibly melted away into the Roman name and people.
1821 P. B. Shelley Epipsychidion 11 Like fiery dews that melt Into the bosom of a frozen bud.
1878 H. James Watch & Ward iv. 67 He foresaw these good things melting and trickling into the shallow current of his own career.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 588/2 The entire protoplasts..pass out to melt into one another clear of the old walls.
1991 Sports Illustr. 14 Jan. 50/3 So popular did his Cowboys become, that even their jargon..seemed to melt into the national vocabulary.
b. intransitive. To blend, merge, or pass into.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > gradual change > change gradually [verb (intransitive)] > from or into
slidea1398
growc1460
wear1555
accrue1586
ripen1611
shuffle1635
melt1651
steal1660
spawn1677
verge1757
to glide into1800
shade1819
evolve?1831
shadow1839
grade1892
1651 J. Ogilby Fables of Æsop Paraphras'd i. 12 Soon as the pleas'd spectators setled were, Glad acclamations melting into aire, Voices were heard through ecchoing valleys ring.
1688 J. Dryden Britannia Rediviva 12 Star-light is dissolv'd away, And melts into the brightness of the day.
1781 W. Cowper Retirem. 424 Downs..That melt and fade into the distant sky.
1819 W. Irving Rip Van Winkle in Sketch Bk. i. 60 Where the blue tints of the upland melt away into the fresh green of the nearer landscape.
1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd II. i. 2 She had walked nearly three miles of her journey,..thinking how the time of deeds was quietly melting into the time of thought.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xiii. 213 I glanced round; the dusk was melting into early night.
1924 E. M. Forster Passage to India i. i. 7 Orange, melting upwards into tenderest purple.
1960 J. W. Bellah Sergeant Rutledge xiv. 63 It was like fever in the brain with the images in whorls that overlapped and melted into one another.
1992 Stud. Eng. Lit.: Eng. Number (Tokyo) 119 The characters and their interpretations melt into each other.
c. transitive. To blend or merge (a shape, sound, etc.) in or into something, esp. a larger or less distinct mass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > mix or blend [verb (transitive)] > into a homogeneous mass
melt1772
mash1827
1772 J. Boswell Diary 7 Apr. in Boswell for Def. (1960) 103 It was truly satisfactory to me to find myself the only Scotsman among a company of English, and at the same time the distinction quite forgotten from..my perfect art of melting myself into the general mass.
1779 J. Reynolds Disc. Royal Acad., 1778 29 This manner is produced by melting and losing the shadows in a ground still darker.
1782 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur Lett. from Amer. Farmer iii. 52 Here [i.e. in America] individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men.
1823 F. Clissold Narr. Ascent Mont Blanc 23 The glassy pinnacles of the surrounding Alps,..melting their outlines in the softer tints of evening.
1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun II. iv. 54 The words..being softened and molten..into the..richness of the voice that sung them.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton II. xvii. 27 A grey mist..melted whole mountains into a soft dull grey.
1900 Contemp. Rev. Mar. 336 In him there was a strong revolutionary element, and it is difficult in looking back not to melt it in with the other revolutionary manifestations of the time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > make less violent or severe [verb (transitive)] > weaken (something immaterial)
to thin off, downc900
feeblea1340
allayc1450
debilite1483
mollify1496
weak1502
geld?1507
water1529
appale?1530
labefact?1539
debilitate1541
mortify1553
effeeble1571
dilutea1575
soften1576
unsinew1599
melt1600
infringe1604
weaken1609
unbenda1616
dissinew1640
slacken1663
thin1670
resolve1715
imbecilitate1809
imbecile1829
to let down1832
to water down1832
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. i. 320 Manhoode is melted into cursies, valour into complement. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 257 Thou would'st haue..melted downe thy youth In different beds of Lust. View more context for this quotation
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1633) 331 And spying heires melting with luxurie.
1631 E. Reynolds Three Treat. 99 After Hannibals armie had melted themselves at Capua with sensualitie and luxurie.
1632 R. Le Grys tr. Velleius Paterculus Romane Hist. 15 Pharnaces the Mede, deprived Sardanapalus, melted with easefull delicacies [L. mollitiis fluentem],..both of his Empire and life.
a1704 T. Brown 1st Satyr Persius Imitated in Wks. (1707) I. i. 75 Nor Virgil's great Majestick Lines Melted into enervate Rhimes.
7. † b. intransitive. slang. Of money: to be spent on drink. Obsolete. rare.
a. transitive. slang. To spend or squander (money), esp. on drink. Also with †away. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > waste of money or extravagance > spend extravagantly [verb (transitive)]
to piss (money, an opportunity, etc.) against the wall1540
lavish1542
melt1607
to piss away1628
unbowel1647
tap1712
sport1785
waster1821
blue1846
spree1859
to frivol away1866
blow1874
bust1878
skittle1883
to blow in1886
burst1892
bang1897
1607 J. Marston What you Will i. i. sig. B2v My Riotous Sir..abandons home, and spends and spends Till stock be melted.
1631 T. Dekker Penny-wise, Povnd Foolish sig. C3 Another part of my money melted away in Sack and Claret.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Will you Melt a Bord? Will you spend your Shilling?
1705 W. Penn in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1872) X. 71 The vast sum of money I have melted away here in London to hinder much mischief against us.
1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans IV. 45 They had the ambition..to melt it [sc. a crown] at Ashley's punch-house upon Ludgate-Hill.
1807 E. S. Barrett Rising Sun I. 134 If Moses [sc. a moneylender] does not come soon, all the money will be melted before he brings it.
1870 J. K. Hunter Life Stud. Char. 133 Gin I had that tippence melted into whiskey.
1903 Bulletin (Sydney) 16 May 3/2 The wages that I'm getting aren't grand; But a fellow can't go picking when his loot is ‘melted down’.
ΚΠ
1765 S. Foote Commissary i. 6 Give him the six-pence; there there, lay it out as you will. Coachm.: It will be to your health, mistress; it shall melt at the Meuse, before I go home.
c. transitive. slang. To cash (a cheque or banknote); to realize (assets). Also (occasionally) in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > cheques and drafts > process a cheque [verb (transitive)] > cash cheques, etc.
cash1811
melt1868
1868 C. Reade & D. Boucicault Foul Play lii I had him arrested before he had time to melt the notes.
1897 Daily News 5 Oct. 3/5 Another of the 100l. notes was, according to the prisoner's expression, ‘melted’ (i.e. cashed).
1914 Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Jan. 22/1 He said he'd made enough money to do without melting down drunks' cheques, so when they got to a certain stage he limited them to a beer an hour.
1930 Bulletin (Sydney) 30 July 20/1 I've melted cheques an' found the mornin' after 'ard.
1942 J. M. Keynes Note 10 Sept. in Coll. Writings (1979) XXIII. 250 It is better not to melt quick assets into cash before we need.
1964 Economist 26 Sept. 1267/2 Traditionally any shortfall was financed by ‘melting’ bills. This meant making up a parcel of bills and getting them discounted in the discount market.
1997 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 29 June 1 e The sale of Deaconess-Incarnate Word Health System to Tenet Healthcare Corp. on Monday will melt assets long frozen in brick and mortar.
8. intransitive. To sound with a liquid, soft, or pleasant tone. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > pleasantness of sound > sound pleasantly [verb (intransitive)] > sound mellow
melt1713
rolla1750
1713 E. Young Force of Relig. i She clasps her lord, brave, beautiful, and young, While tender accents melt upon her tongue.
1792 S. Rogers Pleasures Mem. ii. 38 With rapt ear drink the enchanting serenade, And as it melts along the moonlight-glade [etc.].
a1841 W. G. Clark Lit. Remains (1844) 451 No more the affectionate call, Or remonstrance, will melt from his tongue.
1851 S. G. Goodrich Poems 93 I hear a voice, whose accents dear Melt, like soft music, in mine ear.
Phrasal verbs
With adverbs in senses relating to liquefaction (sense 2). to melt away to melt down to melt in to melt up
1. intransitive. To become liquefied; to disappear or be destroyed by liquefaction. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of melting > melt [verb (intransitive)] > away
formeltc893
to melt awayc1300
deliquesce1815
c1300 St. Christopher (Laud) 200 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 277 (MED) As wex þat gredile malt a-wei.
1685 W. Clark Grand Tryal ii. x. 61 A Body which of late, In health, and vigour, fully animate..Has now no figure, but doth every day Like Wax before the Candle, melt away.
1754 G. Jeffreys Misc. 31 Yet all its snow will melt away, When Zephir's genial gales return.
1785 T. Holcroft tr. P. A. C. de Beaumarchais Follies of Day iii. 53 Honor in a Woman's possession, like Ice Cream in the mouth, melts away.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxiii. 166 I could see the wafted snow gradually melt away.
1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags ii. 149 The frost broke; the snow melted away.
2. transitive. To remove, destroy, or cause to disappear by liquefaction. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 1149 Thoo gan I in myn herte caste That they were molte awey with hete, And not awey with stormes bete.
c1480 (a1400) St. Justina 394 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 163 He sonnere but delay meltit þane wax in fyre away.
1631 T. Dekker Match mee in London ii. 15 What will your worship giue me, if I melt away all that sow of lead that lyes heauy at your heart, by telling you where shee is.
1790 W. Blake Marriage Heaven & Hell Pl. 14 This I shall do, by printing in the infernal method, by corrosives,..melting apparent surfaces away.
1853 E. FitzGerald tr. P. Calderón de la Barca Beware of Smooth Water i. iii. 241 Especially a woman; most of all One not yet married; whose reputation One breath of scandal, like a flake of snow, May melt away.
1979 M. Cunningham & J. Laber Fannie Farmer Cookbk. (ed. 12) 120 This method of cooking will melt away the tiny bones [of shad].
1. transitive. To liquefy (metal or a metal object) by heat for use as a raw material; to render (fat, etc.); (humorously in extended use) to convert (property, etc.) into cash. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > heat > melt
yeteOE
wella1250
melt1535
temper1535
to melt downa1586
conflate1664
lump1797
sweat1883
to melt up1888
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella (1591) 45 When sorrow (vsing my owne Siers might) Melts downe his lead into my boyling brest.
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. E3v Her wit's a sunne, that melts him downe like butter.
1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia ii. iv. 151 Bullion.., meet to bee moulten downe and brought into her Majesties Mint.
1690 T. Burnet Theory of Earth iii. vi. 46 Clayey Soils..may by the strength of fire be converted into brick, or stone, or earthen metal, and so melted down and vitrified.
a1704 T. Brown Satyr upon French King in Wks. (1707) I. i. 92 Old Jerom's Volumnes next I made a Rape on, And melted down that Father for a Capon.
1709 I. Watts Horæ Lyricæ (ed. 2) i. 74 Melt down my Will, and let it flow, And take the Mould Divine.
1721 G. Berkeley Ess. Preventing Ruine Great Brit. 13 A private Family in difficult Circumstances,..ought to melt down their Plate.
1809 A. Henry Trav. & Adventures Canada 146 The fat of our deer was melted down, and the oil filled six porcupine-skins.
1845 C. Dickens Chimes i. 5 But Time had mowed down their sponsors, and Henry the Eighth had melted down their mugs.
1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Parish Churches 226 How many bronzes have been melted down to make guns.
1915 W. Cather Song of Lark i. vii. 52 It was pure, soft metal you could have melted right down into dollars.
1966 G. Greene Comedians i. v. 143 I am melting down some old family silver.
1984 J. A. Phillips Machine Dreams 3 They'd melt down the grease in a big black pot.
2. intransitive. Of the fuel of a nuclear reactor: to become liquid as a result of uncontrolled heating. Of a reactor: to undergo a catastrophic failure for this reason.
ΚΠ
1956 Science 24 Aug. 358/1 A small experimental operation of a fast-breeder type reactor ‘melted down’ in Arco, Idaho, last November.
1978 Sci. Amer. Nov. 40/2 If the materials for the walls of the reaction chamber were carefully selected..there would be no possibility that the fuel core would melt down.
1986 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 8 Aug. a23 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission believes that there is a 50 percent probability that an American nuclear plant will melt down in the next 20 years.
1992 Economist (Nexis) 8 Feb. 105/2 Because there are only a few grammes of fuel in the reactor at any time, there is no danger that a fusion reactor can melt down.
rare.
transitive. To liquefy (a substance) by heat and incorporate it into a mixture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being mixed or blended > mix or blend [verb (transitive)] > add as ingredient to a mixture > by melting
to melt in1868
1868 F. H. Joynson Metals in Constr. 115 The solder is then..melted in, either with a blow-pipe or by being placed in a charcoal fire.
transitive. = to melt down at sense 3c.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > heat > melt
yeteOE
wella1250
melt1535
temper1535
to melt downa1586
conflate1664
lump1797
sweat1883
to melt up1888
1648 J. Mayne Amorous Warre iii. vi. 41 The King is Just, Sir, and allowes us pay, Which you melt up by th'way.
1786 T. Jefferson in Papers (1954) X. 54 Let them melt up their eagles & add the mass to the distributable fund that their descendants may have no temptation to hang them in their button holes.
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It xxxvi. 255 We melted it up and made a solid brick of it by pouring it into an iron brick-mould.
1888 Antiquary Dec. 238 Church bells shared the general fate of other church-furniture, and hundreds were sold and melted up.
1932 E. Wilson Devil take Hindmost viii. 47 Old cans—fifty thousand of which have been melted up.
1997 Times-Picayune (New Orleans) (Nexis) 20 Aug. b7 A car in that shape would be squeezed down and melted up in America.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
meltv.2
/mɛlt/, U.S. /mɛlt/, Scottish English /mɛlt/ Scottish.
transitive. To punch, strike; to knock down.
ΚΠ
a1585 P. Hume Flyting with Montgomerie (Tullibardine) 795 in G. Stevenson Poems A. Montgomerie (1910) 186 Scaid scald, our bald, soone fauld, or I melt the.
1663 in C. S. Romanes Sel. Rec. Regality of Melrose (1915) II. 83 [Which cow the said Richard either maliciously or negligently] did melt, and brak her melt in two, quherof the kow died.
1777 R. Forbes Ulysses' Answer 36 in Sel. Coll. Sc. Poems But I can..melt them ere they wit; An' syne fan they're dung out o' breath They hae na maughts to hit.
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (at cited word) To Melt, to knock down; properly, by a stroke in the side, where the melt or spleen lies.
1985 M. Munro Patter 45 To melt someone is to hit him a hard blow: ‘Beat it or Ah'll melt ye wan.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
meltv.3
/mɛlt/, U.S. /mɛlt/ Brewing. English regional (northern) in later use.
transitive. To prepare (barley) for fermentation; to make (malt).
ΚΠ
1623 [implied in: G. Markham Countrey Contentments, or Eng. Huswife (new ed.) v. 210 This Art of making, or (as some terme it) melting of Malt. (at melting n.2)].
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Melt, to prepare barley for fermentation, or to make it into malt.
1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield 86 Melt, to make malt. ‘They don't lauk malt 'at were melted i' cuckoo taum.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1583
n.21605
n.31847
v.1eOE
v.2a1585v.31623