melt /melt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: meltan ]
1 . BECOME LIQUID [intransitive and transitive] if something solid melts or if heat melts it, it becomes liquid ⇨ freeze , thaw :
It was warmer now, and the snow was beginning to melt.
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2 . DISAPPEAR [intransitive] ( also melt away ) to gradually disappear:
Opposition to the government melted away.
His anger slowly melted.
3 . BECOME LESS ANGRY [intransitive] to become less angry and begin to feel more gentle and sympathetic:
She melted under his gaze.
My heart just melted when I saw her crying.
4 . melt in your mouth if food melts in your mouth, it is soft and tastes very nice
5 . melt into sb’s arms/embrace literary to allow someone to hold you in their arms and feel that you love them:
Closing her eyes, she melted into his embrace.
⇨ butter wouldn’t melt in sb’s mouth at ↑ butter 1 (2)
• • •
THESAURUS
■ preparing food
▪ grate to cut cheese, carrot etc into small pieces by rubbing it against a special tool:
Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the top of the pasta.
▪ melt to make butter, chocolate etc become liquid:
Melt the butter, chocolate, and 1 teaspoon of cream over a low heat.
▪ sieve British English , sift American English to put flour or other powders through a ↑ sieve (=tool like a net made of wire, which you use for removing larger grains or pieces) :
Sift the flour and cocoa before adding to the rest of the mixture.
▪ chop to cut something into pieces, especially using a big knife:
Chop up the vegetables.
▪ dice to cut vegetables or meat into small square pieces:
Dice the carrots and then fry them in butter.
▪ season to add salt, pepper etc to food:
Season the meat before grilling.
▪ crush to use a lot of force to break something such as seeds into very small pieces or into a powder:
Add one clove of crushed garlic.
▪ mix to combine different foods together:
Mix together all the ingredients in one bowl.
▪ beat/whisk to mix food together quickly with a fork or other tool:
Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
▪ stir to turn food around with a spoon:
Stir the sauce gently to prevent burning.
▪ fold something in to gently mix another substance into a mixture:
Fold in the beaten egg whites.
▪ knead to press ↑ dough (=a mixture of flour and water) many times with your hands when you are making bread:
Knead the dough for ten minutes, until smooth.
▪ drizzle to slowly pour a small amount of a liquid onto something:
Drizzle with olive oil.
▪ let something stand to leave something somewhere, before you do something else with it:
Let the mixture stand for a couple of hours so that it cools naturally.
▪ serve to put different foods together as part of a meal:
Serve with rice and a salad.
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Serve the aubergines on a bed of lettuce.
melt away phrasal verb
1 . if a crowd of people melts away, the people gradually leave:
The demonstrators melted away at the first sign of trouble.
2 . to gradually disappear:
Her determination to take revenge slowly melted away.
melt something ↔ down phrasal verb
to heat a metal object until it becomes a liquid, especially so that you can use the metal again:
A lot of the gold was melted down and used for making jewellery.
melt into something phrasal verb
1 . to gradually change into something else:
Her irritation melted into pity.
2 . to gradually become hidden by something:
He is trying to melt into the background.