Smelt
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Any small anadromous fish of the family Osmeridae, found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in lakes in North America and northern part of Europe.
- 2 Production of metal, especially iron, from ore in a process that involves heating and chemical reduction of metal compounds into purified metal. countable, uncountable
- 3 small trout-like silvery marine or freshwater food fishes of cold northern waters wordnet
- 4 A fool; a simpleton. obsolete
"These direct Men, they are no Men of fashion, Talk what you will, this is a very Smelt"
- 5 Any of the various liquids or semi-molten solids produced and used during the course of such production. countable, uncountable
"1982, Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Wiley, →ISBN, page 405, The green liquor, ie, [sic] the solution obtained on dissolving the smelt, contains an insoluble residue called dregs, which gives it a dark green appearance."
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- 6 small cold-water silvery fish; migrate between salt and fresh water wordnet
- 1 simple past and past participle of smell form-of, participle, past
- 2 To produce metal, especially iron, from ore in a process that involves heating and chemical reduction of metal compounds into purified metal.
- 3 extract (metals) by heating wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"The instant he opened the door, he smelt something burning."
Etymology
From Middle English smelt, from Old English smelt, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaz.
From very early Middle English smel; likely to derive from Old English, but not recorded.
From Middle Dutch smelten (“to melt”) or Middle Low German smelten (“to melt”), from Old Dutch *smeltan or Old Saxon smeltan, both from Proto-West Germanic *smeltan, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaną (“to melt”). Related to English melt and Old English meltan (“to melt”). Cognate to Dutch smelten, German schmelzen.