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Synonyms

smelt

1 American  
[smelt] / smɛlt /

verb (used with object)

  1. to fuse or melt (ore) in order to separate the metal contained.

  2. to obtain or refine (metal) in this way.

smelt 2 American  
[smelt] / smɛlt /

noun

plural

smelt,

plural

smelts

  1. any of various small, silvery food fishes of the family Osmeridae, of cold northern waters, as the North American rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax.

  2. any of several superficially similar but unrelated fishes, especially certain silversides, of California.

smelt 3 American  
[smelt] / smɛlt /

verb

  1. a simple past tense and past participle of smell.

smelt 1 British  
/ smɛlt /

verb

  1. a past tense and past participle of smell

"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
smelt 2 British  
/ smɛlt /

verb

  1. (tr) to extract (a metal) from (an ore) by heating

"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
smelt 3 British  
/ smɛlt /

noun

  1. any marine or freshwater salmonoid food fish of the family Osmeridae, such as Osmerus eperlanus of Europe, having a long silvery body and occurring in temperate and cold northern waters

"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
smelt Scientific  
/ smĕlt /

  1. To melt ores in order to extract the metals they contain. Oxide ores, such as iron ore, are smelted with carbon, which serves as a fuel and changes the ore into a reduced metal.

Etymology

Origin of smelt1

First recorded in 1535–45; probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German smelten; cognate with German schmelzen “to melt, smelt, fuse”; melt 1,

Origin of smelt2

First recorded before 900; Middle English smelt(e), smelth, Old English smelt, smylt; compare Norwegian smelta “whiting”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Native fish that are increasingly threatened include the finger-sized Delta smelt and white sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America, which can reach more than 10 feet long.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2026

"The water smelt foul, but we never thought it could kill someone," said Arun Prajapat, who alleges that his mother Seema died after consuming the contaminated water.

From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026

In my family, everyone new to the table — new partners, neighbors, friends — must try a smelt.

From Salon • Dec. 14, 2025

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife wrote that it is concerned about weakened protections for winter-run and spring-run chinook salmon, steelhead trout, delta smelt and longfin smelt.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025

It smelt of wolf, but also of not-wolf.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

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.