Hypertext Webster Gateway: "melting"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Melt \Melt\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Melted} (obs.) p. p. {Molten};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Melting}.] [AS. meltan; akin to Gr.
me`ldein, E. malt, and prob. to E. smelt, v. [root]108. Cf.
{Smelt}, v., {Malt}, {Milt} the spleen.]
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.
2. Hence: 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Melting \Melt"ing\, n.
Liquefaction; the act of causing (something) to melt, or the
process of becoming melted.
{Melting point} (Chem.), the degree of temperature at which a
solid substance melts or fuses; as, the melting point of
ice is 0[deg] Centigrade or 32[deg] Fahr., that of urea is
132[deg] Centigrade.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Melting \Melt"ing\ a.
Causing to melt; becoming melted; -- used literally or
figuratively; as, a melting heat; a melting appeal; a melting
mood. -- {Melt"ing*ly}, adv.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
melting
adj : becoming liquid [syn: {liquescent}]
n : the process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a
liquid; "the power failure caused a refrigerator melt
that was a disaster"; "the thawing of a frozen turkey
takes several hours" [syn: {thaw}, {melt}, {thawing}]
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