Verb
the process used for smelting iron ore
Recent Examples on the Web
Members of the public should be prepared for this future change and identify other locations to take advantage of the smelt run.
—
Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2023
The teen-age waiter returns with the appetizers and the main dishes together, setting down mock-chicken bean curd, lotus root, garlic pea shoots, mapo tofu, and salt-and-pepper smelt sprinkled with tiny diced jalapeños.
—Ling Ma, The New Yorker, 4 July 2022
This is a silver-colored smelt that is important food for lots of other fish and seabirds.
—Lela Nargi, Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2022
This is especially true when water that’s being allowed to flow out to sea does not appear to be forestalling the extinction of the Delta smelt.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 27 Sep. 2016
Breese extends the smelt toward the chick, which leans forward and swallows the fish whole.
—Melody Bentz, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 July 2021
To subscribe to the Free Press for about the cost of a frozen smelt, click here.
—Detroit Free Press, 10 Nov. 2022
If this project and others like it are intended to benefit delta smelt, Obegi said, the land needs to be low-lying enough to be inundated by the tides.
—Ian Jamesstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2022
The delta smelt, a finger-length fish, has been spiraling toward extinction despite decades of rescue efforts.
—Ian Jamesstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2022
The appeal made headlines when Penn called for a boycott of the Oscars if Mr. Zelensky was not permitted to appear by video, and vowed to smelt his own awards in public if the academy snubbed the Ukrainian leader.
—Matthew Mpoke Bigg Helene Cooper Julia Jacobs Ivan Nechepurenko Stephen Castle Ivan Nechepurenko Steven Erlanger Ivan Nechepurenko Eric Schmitt Carlotta Gall Max Fisher, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2023
My hair smelt good and wasn’t as oily the next day.
—ELLE, 24 Dec. 2022
Already in the ascendancy, Iran smelt blood following his dismissal.
—Time, 25 Nov. 2022
The actor visited Ukraine and presented the president with one of his two Oscar statues (after failing to smelt them both, as promised).
—Brendan Morrow, The Week, 9 Nov. 2022
There, campers would smelt iron to make stakes, which volunteers would deliver to Ukrainian troops to use for building trenches.
—Andrea Stanley, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2022
The factories, which were used to smelt lead from the 1930s to 1960s, were abandoned, often without any cleanup or monitoring.
—USA Today, 15 Sep. 2022
Many patients were motionless in their beds in rooms that smelt of urine.
—WSJ, 31 Aug. 2022
Rainbow smelt from Lake Superior should be consumed only once a month, the only species of fish in the lake to be impacted at this point.
—Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 7 July 2022
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘smelt.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
smelt 1
(smĕlt)
v. smelt·ed, smelt·ing, smelts
v.tr.
To melt or fuse (ores) in order to separate the metallic constituents.
v.intr.
To melt or fuse. Used of ores.
[Dutch or Low German smelten, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German; see mel- in Indo-European roots.]
smelt 2
(smĕlt)
n. pl. smelts or smelt
Any of various small silvery marine, freshwater, and anadromous food fishes of the family Osmeridae, found in cold waters of the Northern Hemisphere, especially Osmerus mordax of North America and O. eperlanus of Europe.
smelt 3
(smĕlt)
v.
A past tense and a past participle of smell.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
smelt
(smɛlt)
vb
(Metallurgy) (tr) to extract (a metal) from (an ore) by heating
[C15: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch smelten; related to Old High German smelzan to melt]
smelt
(smɛlt)
n, pl smelt or smelts
(Animals) any marine or freshwater salmonoid food fish of the family Osmeridae, such as Osmerus eperlanus of Europe, having a long silvery body and occurring in temperate and cold northern waters
[Old English smylt; related to Dutch, Danish smelt, Norwegian smelta, German Schmelz]
smelt
(smɛlt)
vb
a past tense and past participle of smell
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
smelt1
(smɛlt)
v.t.
1. to fuse or melt (ore) so as to separate the metal in it.
2. to obtain or refine (metal) in this way.
[1535–45; probably < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German smelten, c. Old High German smelzan]
smelt2
(smɛlt)
n., pl. (esp. collectively) smelt, (esp. for kinds or species) smelts.
any of various small, silvery food fishes of the family Osmeridae, found in northern waters.
[before 900]
smelt3
(smɛlt)
v.
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
smelt
(smĕlt)
To melt ores in order to extract the metals they contain.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
smelt
Past participle: smelted
Gerund: smelting
| Imperative |
|---|
| smelt |
| smelt |
| Present |
|---|
| I smelt |
| you smelt |
| he/she/it smelts |
| we smelt |
| you smelt |
| they smelt |
| Preterite |
|---|
| I smelted |
| you smelted |
| he/she/it smelted |
| we smelted |
| you smelted |
| they smelted |
| Present Continuous |
|---|
| I am smelting |
| you are smelting |
| he/she/it is smelting |
| we are smelting |
| you are smelting |
| they are smelting |
| Present Perfect |
|---|
| I have smelted |
| you have smelted |
| he/she/it has smelted |
| we have smelted |
| you have smelted |
| they have smelted |
| Past Continuous |
|---|
| I was smelting |
| you were smelting |
| he/she/it was smelting |
| we were smelting |
| you were smelting |
| they were smelting |
| Past Perfect |
|---|
| I had smelted |
| you had smelted |
| he/she/it had smelted |
| we had smelted |
| you had smelted |
| they had smelted |
| Future |
|---|
| I will smelt |
| you will smelt |
| he/she/it will smelt |
| we will smelt |
| you will smelt |
| they will smelt |
| Future Perfect |
|---|
| I will have smelted |
| you will have smelted |
| he/she/it will have smelted |
| we will have smelted |
| you will have smelted |
| they will have smelted |
| Future Continuous |
|---|
| I will be smelting |
| you will be smelting |
| he/she/it will be smelting |
| we will be smelting |
| you will be smelting |
| they will be smelting |
| Present Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I have been smelting |
| you have been smelting |
| he/she/it has been smelting |
| we have been smelting |
| you have been smelting |
| they have been smelting |
| Future Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I will have been smelting |
| you will have been smelting |
| he/she/it will have been smelting |
| we will have been smelting |
| you will have been smelting |
| they will have been smelting |
| Past Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I had been smelting |
| you had been smelting |
| he/she/it had been smelting |
| we had been smelting |
| you had been smelting |
| they had been smelting |
| Conditional |
|---|
| I would smelt |
| you would smelt |
| he/she/it would smelt |
| we would smelt |
| you would smelt |
| they would smelt |
| Past Conditional |
|---|
| I would have smelted |
| you would have smelted |
| he/she/it would have smelted |
| we would have smelted |
| you would have smelted |
| they would have smelted |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
Translations
يَصْهَر المَعادِن
tavit
udsmelte
bræîa
kausēt
taviť
ergitmekizabe etmek
Collins Spanish Dictionary — Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
smelt
2
smelt
3
n pl <-(s)> (= fish) → Stint m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
smelt1
(smelt) verb
to melt (ore) in order to separate metal from waste.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /ˈsmɛlt/
- Rhymes: -ɛlt
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English smelt, from Old English smelt, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaz.
Noun[edit]
smelt (plural smelts)
- Any small anadromous fish of the family Osmeridae, found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in lakes in North America and northern part of Europe.
- (obsolete) A fool; a simpleton.
-
c. 1615–1616, Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher, “Loves Pilgramage, a Comedy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
-
These direct Men, they are no Men of fashion, Talk what you will , this is a very Smelt
-
-
Translations[edit]
fish of the family Osmeridae
- Arabic: please add this translation if you can
- Bulgarian: ко́рюшка f (kórjuška)
- Catalan: eperlà m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 胡瓜魚／胡瓜鱼 (zh) (húguāyú)
- Finnish: kuore (fi)
- French: éperlan (fr) m
- German: Stint m
- Ingrian: kurvi
- Irish: cualarach m, smealt m
- Italian: sperlano m
- Kazakh: қиярбалық (qiärbalyq)
- Maori: ngaore, paraki, rangiriri, kehakeha
- Mi’kmaq: gaqpesaw anim
- Russian: ко́рюшка (ru) f (kórjuška)
- Scottish Gaelic: dubh-bhreac m
- Spanish: eperlano m
- Swedish: nors (sv)
- Veps: sinikod
- Walloon: spierlin m
- Welsh: brwyniad m, gwyniad Ebrill m
Etymology 2[edit]
From very early Middle English smel; likely to derive from Old English, but not recorded.
Verb[edit]
smelt
- simple past tense and past participle of smell
Etymology 3[edit]
From Middle Dutch smelten (“to melt”) or Middle Low German smelten (“to melt”), from Old Dutch *smeltan or Old Saxon smeltan, both from Proto-West Germanic *smeltan, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaną (“to melt”).
Related to English melt and Old English meltan (“to melt”). Cognate to Dutch smelten, German schmelzen.
Noun[edit]
smelt (countable and uncountable, plural smelts)
- Production of metal, especially iron, from ore in a process that involves melting and chemical reduction of metal compounds into purified metal.
- Any of the various liquids or semi-molten solids produced and used during the course of such production.
- 1982, Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology,[1] Wiley, →ISBN, page 405,
- The green liquor, ie, [sic] the solution obtained on dissolving the smelt, contains an insoluble residue called dregs, which gives it a dark green appearance.
- 1996, Arthur J. Wilson, The Living Rock: The Story of Metals Since Earliest Time and Their Impact on Civilization,
- When the smelt was complete the crucible could be lifted out and the metal poured directly into the moulds, thus avoiding the need to break it up and remelt […]
- 2000, Julian Henderson, The Science and Archaeology of Materials: An Investigation of Inorganic Materials,
- […] can vary in different positions in the furnace and during the smelt.
- Furnaces are unlikely to survive the smelts; all that often remains on metal production sites is just furnace bases and broken fragments of furnaces […]
- 2002, Jenny Moore, “Who Lights the Fire? Gender and the Energy of Production”, in Moira Donald and Linda Hurcombe (eds.), Gender and Material Culture in Archaeological Perspective,[2] Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 130,
- Women are allowed to play some small part in the smelt if they are breastfeeding or post-menopausal (van der Merwe and Avery, 1988).
- 1982, Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology,[1] Wiley, →ISBN, page 405,
Quotations[edit]
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:smelt.
Translations[edit]
production of metal, especially iron, from ore — see smelting
any of the molten liquids involved in these processes
- Arabic: please add this translation if you can
- Bulgarian: плавка f (plavka), стопилка f (stopilka)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
- Dutch: smelten (nl)
- Finnish: sula (fi)
- German: Schmelze (de) f
- Russian: распла́в (ru) m (raspláv)
- Spanish: please add this translation if you can
Translations to be checked
Verb[edit]
smelt (third-person singular simple present smelts, present participle smelting, simple past and past participle smelted)
- To fuse or melt two things into one, especially in order to extract metal from ore; to meld.
Translations[edit]
to fuse two things into one
- Arabic: please add this translation if you can
- Bulgarian: стопявам (bg) (stopjavam)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 冶煉／冶炼 (zh) (yěliàn), 熔煉／熔炼 (zh) (róngliàn)
- Finnish: sulattaa (fi)
- Galician: fundir (gl)
- German: verschmelzen (de)
- Greek:
- Ancient: χωνεύω (khōneúō)
- Italian: fondere (it)
- Portuguese: fundir (pt)
- Russian: please add this translation if you can
- Spanish: fundir (es), soldar (es)
- Tagalog: tugnawin
Anagrams[edit]
- melts
Dutch[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- Rhymes: -ɛlt
Noun[edit]
smelt m (uncountable)
- a quantity of molten material
Verb[edit]
smelt
- first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of smelten
- imperative of smelten
Middle English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- smelte, smelth
Etymology[edit]
From Old English smelt, smylt, from Proto-West Germanic *smelt, from Proto-Germanic *smeltaz.
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /smɛlt/
Noun[edit]
smelt
- smelt (fish)
Descendants[edit]
- English: smelt
- Scots: smelt
References[edit]
- “smelt, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-20.
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Verb[edit]
smelt
- imperative of smelte
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /smɛlt/
Etymology 1[edit]
Participle[edit]
smelt (definite singular and plural smelte)
- past participle of smelta
Verb[edit]
smelt
- supine of smelta
- imperative of smelta
Etymology 2[edit]
Participle[edit]
smelt (definite singular and plural smelte)
- past participle of smella
Verb[edit]
smelt
- supine of smella
- Top Definitions
- Quiz
- Related Content
- Examples
- British
- Scientific
This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.
This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.
verb (used with object)
to fuse or melt (ore) in order to separate the metal contained.
to obtain or refine (metal) in this way.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Which sentence is correct?
Origin of smelt
1
First recorded in 1535–45; probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German smelten; cognate with German schmelzen “to melt, smelt, fuse”; see origin at melt1,
Words nearby smelt
smelling salts, smell test, smell to high heaven, smell up, smelly, smelt, smelter, smeltery, Smetana, Smethwick, smew
Other definitions for smelt (2 of 3)
noun, plural (especially collectively) smelt, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) smelts.
any of various small, silvery food fishes of the family Osmeridae, of cold northern waters, as the North American rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax.
any of several superficially similar but unrelated fishes, especially certain silversides, of California.
Origin of smelt
2
First recorded before 900; Middle English smelt(e), smelth, Old English smelt, smylt; compare Norwegian smelta “whiting”
Other definitions for smelt (3 of 3)
verb
a simple past tense and past participle of smell.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Words related to smelt
blend, coalesce, combine, dissolve, integrate, melt, merge, mingle, weld, bake, boil, broil, grill, ignite, reheat, roast, sear, steam, thaw, toast
How to use smelt in a sentence
-
In 1915, Alcoa bought the unfinished dam, the plant, and the town, and began smelting two years later.
-
An estimated half of these batteries end up in the informal recycling sector, where they are broken apart and smelted, causing lead particles to leak into the environment.
-
My nostrils have smelt the horrors of the (cloth) diaper pail.
-
So far, proposals of “Senate flounder,” “House blowfish,” and “Hope and Change smelt” have met with little public acceptance.
-
The Romans learned how to smelt copper into brass, then bronze, to make weapons, and suddenly war was an entirely different game.
-
A moment later there was Something nearly at his left elbow, and he smelt again the nameless, fœtid reek.
-
But also he saw strange, unaccustomed raiment, he saw a sheet of gold, he smelt the soft breath of ambra.
-
I offered one of them a small bronze ring; he took it, smelt it, shook his head, and gave me to understand that it was not gold.
-
I merely just touched a piece of fresh rind, and my hands smelt of it the next morning.
-
Hunters are abundantly aware of this, and have to be quite as careful to avoid being smelt by their game as to avoid being seen.
British Dictionary definitions for smelt (1 of 3)
verb
(tr) to extract (a metal) from (an ore) by heating
Word Origin for smelt
C15: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch smelten; related to Old High German smelzan to melt
British Dictionary definitions for smelt (2 of 3)
noun plural smelt or smelts
any marine or freshwater salmonoid food fish of the family Osmeridae, such as Osmerus eperlanus of Europe, having a long silvery body and occurring in temperate and cold northern waters
Word Origin for smelt
Old English smylt; related to Dutch, Danish smelt, Norwegian smelta, German Schmelz
British Dictionary definitions for smelt (3 of 3)
verb
a past tense and past participle of smell
Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for smelt
To melt ores in order to extract the metals they contain. Oxide ores, such as iron ore, are smelted with carbon, which serves as a fuel and changes the ore into a reduced metal.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other forms: smelting; smelts; smelted
No, this verb doesn’t involve using your nose. When you smelt metal, you remove it from ore, or rock. Heat is required to smelt iron.
Smelt looks a lot like melt and that is an easy way to remember what this process involves. To smelt metal, you have to heat the rock, which is called ore, until the metal inside it melts or liquefies. That metal is the part that has use and value, but hard work is needed to extract it.
Definitions of smelt
-
verb
extract (metals) by heating
-
noun
small cold-water silvery fish; migrate between salt and fresh water
-
noun
small trout-like silvery marine or freshwater food fishes of cold northern waters
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘smelt’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Look up smelt for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the
words you need to know.
Sign up now (it’s free!)
Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.
Get started