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furnace

American  
[fur-nis] / ˈfɜr nɪs /

noun

  1. a structure or apparatus in which heat may be generated, as for heating houses, smelting ores, or producing steam.

  2. a place characterized by intense heat.

    The volcano was a seething furnace.

  3. Astronomy. Furnace, the constellation Fornax.

verb (used with object)

furnaced, furnacing

  1. to heat (a metal piece) in a furnace.

furnace British  
/ ˈfɜːnɪs /

noun

  1. an enclosed chamber in which heat is produced to generate steam, destroy refuse, smelt or refine ores, etc

  2. a very hot or stifling place

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • furnace-like adjective
  • furnacelike adjective

Etymology

Origin of furnace

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English furneis, furnais, from Old French fornais, fournais, from Latin fornāc- (stem of fornāx “kiln, oven”), akin to formus “warm”

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.