melt

Etymology

From Middle English melten, from a merger of Old English meltan (intransitive) and mieltan (transitive), both meaning “to melt, digest,” from Proto-West Germanic *meltan and *maltijan, from Proto-Germanic *meltaną and *maltijaną, both from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- (“melt”). Cognate with Icelandic melta (“to digest”).

noun

1. Molten material, the product of melting.
   The crust (a mere 1% of the Earth's volume) is made of lighter melt products from the mantle. 2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition
2. The transition of matter from a solid state to a liquid state.
3. The springtime snow runoff in mountain regions.
4. A melt sandwich.
   I recently asked a group of people whether they had eaten tuna melts as a kid. Everyone remembered a version of this dish. 2002, Tod Dimmick, Complete idiot's guide to 20-minute meals
5. (geology) Rock showing evidence of having been remelted after it originally solidified.
   Numerous samples of breccia and impact melts were recovered by drilling into the floor of the crater.
6. A wax-based substance for use in an oil burner as an alternative to mixing oils and water.
7. (UK, slang, derogatory) An idiot.
   You are from Blackburn you fucking melt...have a bastard word with yourself. June 10, 2003, Roo, “See the Quality !!!”, in alt.sports.soccer.everton (Usenet)
   Kiss it ya melt! September 20, 2004, Diablos Rojos, “North South divide??”, in uk.sport.football.clubs.liverpool (Usenet)
   LOL! you fucking melt. Get a job. May 30, 2006, Dave G, “England vs Hungary...”, in alt.sports.soccer.everton (Usenet)
   Over the course of this chapter on 'Love Island Essentials' we'll be charting exactly who went with who, showing you around the villa, and equipping you with the vocabulary you'll need to avoid looking like a melt and get grafting like a true Islander. 2017, Love Island On Paper: The Official Love Island Guide to Grafting, Cracking On and Mugging Off, page 12
8. Variant spelling of milt, the semen of a male fish, used as food.
   A mass of herring melts, tinged with the streams of claret, had fallen into his hair, and this, added to his temporary stupor, had led to the Doctor's mistake. 1825, Lochandhu: A Tale of the Eighteenth Century, page 28

verb

1. (ergative) To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat.
   I melted butter to make a cake.
   When the weather is warm, the snowman will disappear; he will melt.
2. (intransitive, figurative) To dissolve, disperse, vanish.
   His troubles melted away.
   I gave him a couple of Advil and, after a few minutes, urged him back onto the track. Over the next few laps his pained expression slowly melted, although he still shuffled with a slight limp. 2008 October, Davy Rothbart, “How I caught up with dad”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 110
3. (transitive, figurative) 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.
   For pity melts the mind to love. 1687, John Dryden, A Song for Cecilia's Day
4. (intransitive) To be discouraged.
5. (intransitive, figurative) To be emotionally softened or touched.
   She melted when she saw the romantic message in the Valentine's Day card.
6. (intransitive, colloquial) To be very hot and sweat profusely.
   I need shade! I'm melting!