melt, v.1
Inflections:
Past tense melted; past participle melted,
(chiefly arch.)
molten;
Forms:
α. OE meltan.
β. OE meltan, OE miltan, OE myltan.
γ. ME malt, ME malte, ME melltenn ( Ormulum), ME molte, ME mult, ME multe, ME–15 mealt, ME–15 mealte, ME–15 melte, ME–15 mylt, ME–15 mylte, ME– melt, 15 moult; Sc. pre-17 malte, pre-17 meelte, pre-17 molt, pre-17 17– melt.
Past tenseα. OE mealt (1st and 3rd singular indicative), OE multon (plural indicative).
γ. ME malt, ME malte, ME melt, ME meltid, ME meltyde, ME moltid, ME molton (plural), ME–15 molte, 15 molt, 15 molted, 15 moulte, 15– melted, 16 moult; Sc. pre-17 17– melted, pre-17 17– meltit.
Past participleα. OE gemolten.
β. OE gemælted, OE gemelt, OE gemelted, OE gemeltid, OE gemylted, OE gemyltyd, OE melt.
γ. ME ȝemylted, ME imealt, ME imelt, ME imelte, ME imeltid, ME imolte, ME imolten, ME imulten, ME meltede, ME meltid, ME meltide, ME meltyd, ME meltyn, ME moltan, ME moltid, ME molton, ME moltone, ME moltoun, ME moltun, ME moltyn, ME moltyne, ME multen, ME multyn, ME mylt, ME mylten, ME ymelte, ME ymeltede, ME ymolten, ME–15 melten, ME–15 ymolt, ME–16 melt, ME–16 molt, ME–16 molte, ME–16 moult, ME– melted, ME– molten (now arch.), 15 moulted, 15–16 molted, 16 mealted, 16 moulten, 17 ymolten (arch.); Sc. pre-17 meltyn, pre-17 meltyne, pre-17 molten, pre-17 moltin, pre-17 moltine, pre-17 moltyn, pre-17 moltyne, pre-17 moltynnyd, pre-17 moltynnyt, pre-17 17– melted, pre-17 17– meltit.
(Show Less)Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymon: Icelandic moltinn.
Etymology: A merging of two distinct words: (i) (represented by the α forms) an Old English strong verb of Class III (originally intransitive), cognate with an unattested early Scandinavian verb to be inferred from a surviving past participial adjective (compare Icelandic moltinn soft, mouldering (18th cent.), Norwegian (Nynorsk) molten soft, mouldering, Old Swedish multin rotten (Swedish multen ), Danish regional multen rotten); compare also (with a different Germanic ablaut grade) Old High German malz soft, melting, dissolving (Middle High German malz melting, powerless), Icelandic maltur soft, mouldering (16th cent.), Swedish regional malt mouldering; and (ii) (represented by the β forms) an Old English weak verb (causative of the former, and originally transitive), cognate with Old Icelandic melta to digest, dissolve, and an unattested Gothic verb to be inferred from Gothic gamalteins (verbal noun) dissolution (translating ancient and Hellenistic Greek ἀνάλυσις 2 Timothy 4:6: see analysis n.); both ultimately < an extended form of the Indo-European base of meal n.1 Compare also Sanskrit mṛdu soft, ancient Greek μέλδειν to melt, classical Latin mollis soft, Welsh blydd soft, juicy, Old Church Slavonic mladŭ young, fresh, and the Germanic cognate forms with s- prefix cited s.v. smelt v. Compare malt n.1, milt n.
The γ forms represent later reflexes of the Old English α and β forms. The two words were probably already confused in Old English; and by the Middle English period the strong and weak inflections were used indiscriminately, the former becoming gradually less frequent (the appearance of such mixed forms as moltid (past tense), melten (past participle) indicates a complete confusion of forms). The strong past tense (especially in the forms molt , molte , moult , moulte by analogy with the past participle) continued in use in the early modern period, albeit infrequently and chiefly in poetry. The weak past participle melted is now the usual form, with the strong form molten chiefly confined to poetic use (compare molten adj.). In Old English the prefixed forms gemeltan (compare α forms above) and gemieltan (compare β forms above) are also attested; some of the past participle forms with ge- cited above may represent these verbs.
To liquefy, dissolve, or disperse, and related senses.
1.
a. intr. 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. (to look) as if butter would not melt in one's mouth at butter n.1 1c.
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.
eOE—1999(Hide quotations)
b. trans. To make a solution of, to dissolve; (in Old English) †to digest (obs.). Also fig.
eOE Bald's Leechbk.
(Royal)
(1865)
ii. xxvii. 220
Sio wamb seo þe bið hatre gecyndo sio melt mete wel.
c1150
(▸?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.
eOE—1900(Hide quotations)
†c. intr. To become intelligible. Cf sense 5a. Obs. rare.
c1400
(▸?c1380)
Cleanness
(1920)
1566
He þat..make[s] þe mater to malt my mynde wythinne.
c1400—c1400(Hide quotations)
d. intr. Of clouds, mist, vapour, etc.: to dissolve or clear; to evaporate or disperse; to break into rain.
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 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.
c1400—1968(Hide quotations)
e. intr. fig. Of a person, etc.: to vanish or disappear; to depart unobtrusively. Of a crowd: to disperse, esp. rapidly. Frequently with away.
?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.
a1616 Shakespeare Cymbeline
(1623)
i. iii. 20
I would haue..followed him, till he had melted from The smalnesse of a Gnat, to ayre.
1799 Scott tr. 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.
?1567—1993(Hide quotations)
f. trans. fig. To disperse, cause to disappear. Occasionally refl. Also with away. Now rare.
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love Praeludium sig. A2v
Echo..cursses the Spring wherein the pretty foolish Gentleman melted himselfe away.
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!
1820 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.
1601—1865(Hide quotations)
†g. trans. To break up or loosen (soil). Obs.
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.
1615—1708(Hide quotations)
2. (Also with adverbs: see senses to melt away, to melt down, to melt in, to melt up at Phrasal verbs.)
a. intr. To become liquefied by heat.
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.
a1500
(▸?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 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.
OE—1987(Hide quotations)
b. trans. To liquefy by heat.In quot. OE2 with object implied.
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.
?c1200 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)
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)
Chaucer House of Fame 922
Ykarus..fleigh so highe that the hete Hys wynges malt.
?1473 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 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.
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.
1874 P. G. Tait Rec. Adv. in Physical Sci.
(1876)
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.
OE—1988(Hide quotations)
c. trans. To liquefy by heat and refashion (an object or material) into something else. Also: †to form (an image, etc.) out of molten material (obs.).
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 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.
c1450—1991(Hide quotations)
d. intr. To liquefy metal, etc., by heat, esp. in preparation for casting.
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.
1535—1988(Hide quotations)
e. intr. Of a person: to suffer from the effects of extreme heat; to sweat excessively. Now colloq.
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 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.
1614—1999(Hide quotations)
f. trans. colloq. To cause (a person) to sweat excessively or to become hot to the point of exhaustion. rare.
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.
1677—1836(Hide quotations)
3.
†a. intr. [The examples in post-medieval versions of the Bible are literal translations of Hebrew idioms.] To be overwhelmed with dismay or grief. Obs.
[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 William of Palerne
(1867)
434 (MED)
I..melt neiȝh for mournyng.
a1425
(▸?a1400)
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.
OE—1611(Hide quotations)
b. intr. To become softened by compassion, pity, love, etc.; to yield to entreaty; to dissolve into tears or laughter.
a1225
(▸c1200)
Vices & Virtues 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)
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 Spenser Faerie Queene i. ii. sig. B6
Melting in teares, then gan shee thus lament.
1638 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.
1821 Shelley Ginevra 181
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.
a1225—1989(Hide quotations)
c. trans. 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) intr. †to melt down : to subdue (a person, etc.). to melt to (also †in, into) tears : to cause to weep.
▸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)
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.
▸1434 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.
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 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.
a1382—1991(Hide quotations)
†d. trans. to melt away : to overwhelm with grief or sorrow. Obs. rare.
a1400
(▸?a1325)
Medit. on Supper of our Lord
(Harl.)
1001
Now certes my soule ys melted awey.
1713 J. Addison Cato i. iv. 11
Alas, thy Story melts away my Soul.
a1400—1713(Hide quotations)
e. intr. To become ecstatic; to yield to rapture or delight; spec. to experience sexual orgasm. Formerly chiefly with away.
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.
1698—1991(Hide quotations)
4. intr.
a. 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.
c1225
(▸?c1200)
St. Margaret
(Bodl.)
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.)
124 (MED)
Alle cunne madmes to nocht sulen melten.
a1500
(▸c1400)
St. Erkenwald 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.
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav.
(rev. ed.)
160
His huge Armie melted away, and quickly became numerous.
1645 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 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.
c1225—1988(Hide quotations)
†b. Of the human body: to waste away. Obs.
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.
c1300—a1398(Hide quotations)
5.
a. intr. To filter, seep, become absorbed. With into, †within.
1590 Spenser Faerie Queene i. ix. sig. Iv
His subtile tong, like dropping honny, mealt'h Into the heart, and searcheth euery vaine.
1776 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 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.
1590—1991(Hide quotations)
b. intr. To blend, merge, or pass into.
1651 J. Ogilby Fables of Æsop i. 12
Soon as the pleas'd spectators setled were, Glad acclamations melting into aire, Voices were heard through ecchoing valleys ring.
1688 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.
1651—1992(Hide quotations)
c. trans. To blend or merge (a shape, sound, etc.) in or into something, esp. a larger or less distinct mass.
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 Crèvecœur’ 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.
1772—1900(Hide quotations)
†6. trans. To weaken, to reduce in strength or vitality. Also (occasionally) intr. and refl. Obs.
1600 Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. i. 320
Manhoode is melted into cursies, valour into complement.
a1616 Shakespeare Timon of Athens
(1623)
iv. iii. 257
Thou would'st haue..melted downe thy youth In different beds of Lust.
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.
1600—a1704(Hide quotations)
7.
a. trans. slang. To spend or squander (money), esp. on drink. Also with †away. Now rare.
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’.
1607—1903(Hide quotations)
†b. intr. slang. Of money: to be spent on drink. Obs. rare.
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.
1765—1765(Hide quotations)
c. trans. slang. To cash (a cheque or banknote); to realize (assets). Also (occasionally) in extended use.
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.
1868—1997(Hide quotations)
8. intr. To sound with a liquid, soft, or pleasant tone. Now rare.
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.
1713—1851(Hide quotations)
Phrasal verbs
With adverbs in senses relating to liquefaction (sense 2). to melt away
to melt down to melt in to melt up
1. intr. To become liquefied; to disappear or be destroyed by liquefaction. Also fig.
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.
c1300—1942(Hide quotations)
2. trans. To remove, destroy, or cause to disappear by liquefaction. Also fig.
c1450
(▸c1380)
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.
1793 W. Blake Marriage of Heaven & Hell 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].
c1450—1979(Hide quotations)
1. trans. 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 fig.
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)
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 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.
a1586—1984(Hide quotations)
2. intr. 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.
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.
1956—1992(Hide quotations)
rare.
trans. To liquefy (a substance) by heat and incorporate it into a mixture.
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.
1868—1868(Hide quotations)
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.
1648—1997(Hide quotations)