What does "melt" mean?
Molten material, the product of melting.
Melt
/mɛlt/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Molten material, the product of melting.
- Grammar: melt is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: dissolve, fade, thaw, affect.
- Useful contrasts: frosted, frozen, solid object example.
- Usage evidence: A plastic dish will melt on the stove.
How to use "melt"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "melt" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "melt" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "melt" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "melt" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "melt" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "dissolve" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "melt", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Molten material, the product of melting. countable, uncountable
"The crust (a mere 1% of the Earth's volume) is made of lighter melt products from the mantle."
- 2 Acronym of metrics, events, logs, and traces. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
"Another way to describe APM suites is that they are the monitoring technology that makes MELT data collection possible and useful for SREs."
- 3 the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid wordnet
- 4 The transition of matter from a solid state to a liquid state. countable, uncountable
- 5 The springtime snow runoff in mountain regions. countable, uncountable
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A melt sandwich. countable, uncountable
"I recently asked a group of people whether they had eaten tuna melts as a kid. Everyone remembered a version of this dish."
- 7 Rock showing evidence of having been remelted after it originally solidified. countable, uncountable
"Numerous samples of breccia and impact melts were recovered by drilling into the floor of the crater."
- 8 A wax-based substance for use in an oil burner as an alternative to mixing oils and water. countable, uncountable
- 9 An idiot. UK, countable, derogatory, slang, uncountable
"You are from Blackburn you fucking melt...have a bastard word with yourself."
- 10 A centre-left or liberal person, when in opposition to a leftist; (especially) a critic of Jeremy Corbyn within the Labour Party. UK, countable, derogatory, slang, uncountable
"Anyone who said different was a Tory, a melt or – worse – a Blairite. Centrists (mostly Labour voters) were the devil incarnate."
- 11 Variant spelling of milt, the semen of a male fish, used as food. countable, uncountable
"A mass of herring melts, tinged with the streams of claret, had fallen into his hair, and this, added to his temporary stupor, had led to the Doctor's mistake."
Verb
- 1 To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat. ergative
"I melted butter to make a cake."
- 2 become less intense and fade away gradually wordnet
- 3 To dissolve, disperse, vanish. figuratively, intransitive
"His troubles melted away."
- 4 become less clearly visible or distinguishable; disappear gradually or seemingly wordnet
- 5 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. figuratively, transitive
"Thou would'st have […] melted down thy youth."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 become more relaxed, easygoing, or genial wordnet
- 7 To be discouraged. intransitive
- 8 become or cause to become soft or liquid wordnet
- 9 To be emotionally softened or touched. figuratively, intransitive
"She melted when she saw the romantic message in the Valentine's Day card."
- 10 lose its distinct outline or shape; blend gradually wordnet
- 11 To be very hot and sweat profusely. colloquial, intransitive
"I need shade! I'm melting!"
- 12 reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating wordnet
Example
"A plastic dish will melt on the stove."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "melt"?
Common synonyms include: dissolve, fade, thaw, affect, assuage, bake.
How do you use "melt" in a sentence?
A plastic dish will melt on the stove.
How do you pronounce "melt"?
Pronounced /mɛlt/.
Etymology
From Middle English melten, from a merger of Old English meltan (intransitive) and mieltan (transitive), both meaning “to melt, digest,” from Proto-West Germanic *meltan and *maltijan, from Proto-Germanic *meltaną and *maltijaną, both from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- (“melt”). Cognate with Icelandic melta (“to digest”).