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reduce to the constituent elements; -- said of compound substances; hence, sometimes, to melt, or dissolve. O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Shak. Ye immortal souls, who once were men, And now resolved to elements again. Dryden.

A colorless crystalline substance of the phenol series, obtained by melting certain resins, as galbanum, asafetida, etc., with caustic potash. It is also produced artificially and used in making certain dyestuffs, as phthaleïn, fluoresceïn, and eosin.

ard; crabbed; austere; -- said of temper, character, and the like, or of persons. Neither melt nor endear him, but leave him as hard, rugged, and unconcerned as ever. South.

To become fluid; to melt; to fuse. As wax dissolves, as ice begins to run. Addison. Sussex iron ores run freely in the fire. Woodward.

A kind of glass drop with a long tail, made by dropping melted glass into water. It is remarkable for bursting into fragments when the surface is scratched or the tail broken; -- so called from Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I., by whom they were first brought to England. Called also Rupert's ball, and glass tear.…

also wrought-iron scrap. (b) Fragments of cast iron or defective castings suitable for remelting in the foundry; -- called also founding scrap, or cast scrap.

a woman by enticements and persuasions. He whose firm faith no reason could remove, Will melt before that soft seducer, love. Dryden.

A mass of iron on which the operation of smelting has failed of its intended effect; -- so called from Shadrach, one of the three Hebrews who came forth unharmed from the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar. (See Dan. iii. 26, 27.)

a ship's side. -- Shot tower, a lofty tower for making shot, by dropping from its summit melted lead in slender streams. The lead forms spherical drops which cool in the descent, and are received in water or other liquid. -- Shot window, a window projecting from the wall. Ritson, quoted by Halliwell, explains it as a…

es of the American coast (Menidia notata) is very abundant. Called also silverside, sand smelt, friar, tailor, and tinker. Brook silversides (Zoöl.), a small fresh-water North American fish (Labadesthes sicculus) related to the marine silversides.

A spongy, semivitrifled substance which miners or smelters mix with the ores of metals to prevent their fusion. [Written also slakin.]

A mixture of snow and water; half-melted snow.

Abounding in slush; characterized by soft mud or half-melted snow; as, the streets are slushy; the snow is slushy. "A dark, drizzling, slushy day." Blackw. Mag.

To melt. [Obs.] Mortimer.

nivicola) often found in winter on the snow in vast numbers. -- Snow flood, a flood from melted snow. -- Snow flower (Bot.), the fringe tree. -- Snow fly, or Snow insect (Zoöl.), any one of several species of neuropterous insects of the genus Boreus. The male has rudimentary wings; the female is wingless. These inse…

Snow and water mixed, or snow just melted; very cold liquor. Shak.

A metal or metallic alloy used when melted for uniting adjacent metallic edges or surfaces; a metallic coment. Hence, anything which unites or cements. Hard solder, a solder which fuses only at a red heat, as one composed of zinc and copper, or silver and copper, etc. -- Soft solder, a solder fusible at comparatively…

as through the world I did proclaim. Spenser. Flowers, in such sort worn, can neither be smelt nor seen well by those that wear them. Hooker. I'll deceive you in another sort. Shak. To Adam in what sort Shall I appear Milton. I shall not be wholly without praise, if in some sort I have copied his style. Dryden.…

[F.] A sauce made of white onions and melted butter mixed with velouté sauce.

The European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus).