D defs.my
Entry 8 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Melt

/(mĕlt)/ · IPA /mɛlt/
01 n. See 2d Milt.
  1. 1.
    See 2d Milt.(Zool.) See: Milt
02 v. t. To reduce from a solid to a liquid state, as by heat; to liquefy; as, to melt wax, tallow, or lead; to melt ice or snow.
imp. & p. p. Melted; p. p. Molten; p. pr. & vb. n. Melting
  1. 1.
    To reduce from a solid to a liquid state, as by heat; to liquefy; as, to melt wax, tallow, or lead; to melt ice or snow.(obs.)
  2. 2.
    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.
03 v. i. To be changed from a solid to a liquid state under the influence of heat; as, butter and wax melt at moderate temperatures.
  1. 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. 2.
    To dissolve; as, sugar melts in the mouth.
  3. 3.
    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. 4.
    To lose distinct form or outline; to blend. See fondue. See: fondue
    “The soft, green, rounded hills, with their flowing outlines, overlapping and melting into each other.” — J. C. Shairp.
  5. 5.
    To disappear by being dispersed or dissipated; as, the fog melts away.