verb
reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating
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melt butter
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melt down gold
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The wax melted in the sun
• Verb Frames:
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Something ——s
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Somebody ——s something
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Something ——s something
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melt down
1. To turn metal into a molten state
2. (of fuel in a nuclear reactor) to overheat, causing radioactivity to escape
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Main Entry: ↑melt
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ˌmelt ˈdown [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they melt down he/she/it melts down present participle melting down past tense melted down past participle melted down] phrasal verb
to heat a metal until it becomes liquid, especially in order to make something new from it
Main entry: melt
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melt down [phrasal verb]
The reactor's core melted down.
1 b : to experience a very fast collapse or failure
The stock market has melted down.
— see also ↑meltdown
2 melt (something) down or melt down (something) : to melt (something) so that it can be used for another purpose
melt down a coin
The stolen gold has probably already been melted down.
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Main Entry: ↑melt
Useful english dictionary. 2012.