furnace

EnglishEdit

 
An oil furnace for heating a building

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English forneys, from Old French fornais (French fournaise), from Latin fornāx.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

furnace (plural furnaces)

  1. (UK) An industrial heating device, e.g. for smelting metal or baking ceramics.
  2. (US, Canada) A device that provides heat for a building; a space heater.
  3. (colloquial) Any area that is excessively hot.
  4. (figurative) A place or time of punishment, affliction, or great trial; severe experience or discipline.

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

VerbEdit

furnace (third-person singular simple present furnaces, present participle furnacing, simple past and past participle furnaced)

  1. To heat in a furnace.
  2. To exhale like a furnace.

AnagramsEdit