melt
melt / melt/ • v. [intr.] 1. become liquefied by heat: place under the broiler until the cheese has melted the icebergs were melting away. ∎ [tr.] change (something) to a liquid condition by heating it: the hot metal melted the wax | [as adj.] (melted) asparagus with melted butter. ∎ [tr.] (melt something down) melt something, esp. a metal article, so that the material it is made of can be used again: beautiful objects are being melted down and sold for scrap. ∎ dissolve in liquid: add a cup of sugar and boil until the sugar melts.2. become more tender or loving: she was so beautiful that I melted. ∎ [tr.] make (someone) more tender or loving: Richard gave her a smile that melted her heart.3. [intr.] leave or disappear unobtrusively: the compromise was accepted and the opposition melted away | the figure melted into thin air. ∎ (of a feeling or state) disappear: their original determination to exact vengeance melted away. ∎ (melt into) change or merge imperceptibly into (another form or state): the cheers melted into gasps of admiration.• n. an act of melting: the precipitation falls as snow and is released during the spring melt. ∎ metal or other material in a melted condition. ∎ an amount melted at any one time. ∎ a sandwich, hamburger, or other dish containing or topped with melted cheese: a tuna melt.PHRASES: melt in the (or your) mouth (of food) be deliciously light or tender and need little or no chewing: my shortbread melts in the mouth | [as adj.] melt-in-your-mouth chicken livers. DERIVATIVES: melt·a·ble adj.melt·er n.melt·ing·ly adv.ORIGIN: Old English meltan, mieltan, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse melta ‘to malt, digest,’ from an Indo-European root shared by Greek meldein ‘to melt,’ Latin mollis ‘soft,’ also by malt.