Melt Meaning
/mɛlt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat.
verbTo dissolve, disperse, vanish.
Sentence Examples
A plastic dish will melt on the stove.
Alice felt something hard melt in her heart.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The chocolate will ____ in your hand if you hold it too long.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The spring sunshine caused the winter snow to ____, revealing the first green shoots of the new year.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I gave him a couple of Advil and, after a few minutes, urged him back onto the track. Over the next few laps his pained expression slowly melted, although he still shuffled with a slight limp."
— 2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 110:
"Thou would'st have […] melted down thy youth."
— c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
"For pity melts the mind to love."
— 1687, John Dryden, A Song for Cecilia's Day:
"The traveller hears me now and then,
And sometimes harshly will he speak:
‘This fellow would make weakness weak,
And melt the waxen hearts of men.’"
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 35:
"He was very dubious at first, but I believe the fellow is genuine in his attachment to the house. His final scruple melted when he learned that I should not require him to sit up with me."
— 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The chocolate will ____ in your hand if you hold it too long.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The spring sunshine caused the winter snow to ____, revealing the first green shoots of the new year.