melt

To become liquid, or make something liquid, usually by heating it.

• The ice will melt soon.
• She melted the butter in a pan.
• Has all the snow melted yet?

Similar words: liquefy

Opposites: freeze, solidify

Common phrases: melt butter, melt chocolate, melt the ice

To gradually disappear or become part of something else.

• Her worries began to melt away.
• The thief melted into the crowd.
• By morning, the mist had melted away.

How to use it: melt away (The tension melted away after we talked.); melt into something (His figure melted into the darkness.)

Similar words: fade, disappear, vanish

Opposites: appear

Common phrases: melt away, melt into something

To become gentle or feel strong affection because something touches your feelings.

• Her smile made my heart melt.
• He melted when the baby reached for him.
• That small act of kindness melted her heart.

How to use it: melt at something (She melted at the sight of the sleeping puppy.)

Similar words: soften

Opposites: harden

Common phrases: melt your heart, melt at something

Rock that became liquid again after first becoming solid.

• The drill recovered impact melt from the crater.
• These melts formed when the asteroid struck.
• Scientists examined the melt for signs of rapid cooling.

Common phrases: impact melt, rock melt, melt sample