melt

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

v. disappear, vanish; fuse, thaw, dissolve, soften; dwindle; blend. See pity, disappearance, liquefaction. Ant., freeze, solidify.

II

(Roget's IV) v.

1. [To liquefy]

Syn. dissolve, liquefy, thaw, deliquesce, render, fuse, blend, merge, soften, flow, run, disintegrate, waste away; see also dissolve 1 .

Ant. freeze*, harden, solidify.

2. [To relent]

Syn. forgive, show mercy, become lenient; see yield 1 .

3. [To decrease]

Syn. vanish, pass away, go; see decrease 1 .

Syn.- melt implies the bringing of a substance from its solid to its liquid state, usually by heat [ to melt butter ] ; dissolve refers specifically to the reduction of a solid to a liquid by placing it in another liquid so that its particles are evenly distributed among those of the solvent [ to dissolve sugar in water ] ; liquefy is the general term meaning to change to a liquid state and may be applied to gases as well as solids; thaw implies the reducing of a frozen substance to its normal state, usually to a liquid or a semiliquid, by raising its temperature [ the ice has thawed]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) v.

liquefy, dissolve, soften, deliquesce, thaw, defrost.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb 1. To change from a solid to a liquid: deliquesce, dissolve, flux, fuse, liquefy, run, thaw. See SOLID. 2. To disappear gradually by or as if by dispersal of particles. Also used with away: dissolve, fade. See INCREASE, SEE.