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As a verb used when things are blending or being blended together, meld dates only to the first half of the 20th century. In its early days, the word attracted some unfavorable attention. Those who didn't like it tended to perceive it as a misuse of an older meld meaning "to declare or announce (a card or cards) for a score in a card game" (such as pinochle or gin rummy). But the more recent meld, a blend of melt and weld, was an entirely new coinage suggesting a smooth and thorough blending of two or more things into a single, homogeneous whole. The word is no longer controversial.
Synonyms
Examples of meld in a Sentence
Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 29 Mar. 2024
The Alpha melds those two worlds, giving you more physical real estate so that typing is comfortable but not sacrificing portability.
—Anthony Karcz, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
In Goat’s Horn With Red (1945), a marvelous pastel in the exhibition, O’Keeffe melds oxbloods and brick reds, encircling a pale blue ground.
—Angelica Aboulhosn, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2024
Yet theme park creatives are clearly thinking about games and how to better meld them with physical spaces.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
The elements melded perfectly, making for a heady, aromatic meal with runny eggs that flowed richly onto my toast (though rice would have worked just as well).
—Melissa Clark, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Land shared the following in a press release posted to his Facebook page:
This acquisition marks a significant milestone for Nikon, melding its rich heritage in professional and consumer imaging with RED’s innovative prowess.
—Jon Porter, The Verge, 7 Mar. 2024
But Republicans do risk making the Wisconsin 8th District yet another proof point in Trump’s takeover of the GOP, often at the expense of figures capable of expertise that sometimes does not meld with the MAGAverse.
—TIME, 13 Feb. 2024
The tracks share a similar sparseness and uniformity in instrumentation–piano, violin, guitar, and occasional percussion–but rather than meld together, each song stands strong, poignant and singular.
—Leah Lu, Rolling Stone, 25 Mar. 2024
Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2024
Cuts of pork, beef and chicken meld in a stew with plantains, rounds of corn on the cob, winter squash and yautia, a root vegetable sometimes called malanga.
—Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Located an hour drive southeast of the city of Toulouse between the walled city of Carcassonne and the Black Mountains—Montagne Noir—local geography here includes a meld of landscapes from two sides of the country—Mediterranean (rocky scrub) and Atlantic (forests and meadows).
—Tom Mullen, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024
The extensive menu is a meld of Italian and Japanese, with an extensive–and spectacular–sushi bar.
—Rona Berg, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
Crunchy guitars, galloping rhythm and a ferocious production meld on this confessional grit-country track written by Sam Martinez, Graham Barham, Zack Dyer and Jon Robert Hall.
—Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 5 Feb. 2024
Despite the lack of Twitter, the mind meld is still happening.
—WIRED, 2 Nov. 2023
This meld of theory and practice will position you to adeptly navigate AI’s evolving landscape.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
On her latest, Spanish guitar flourishes, a cinematic Western vibe and Faith’s unique, sultry twang meld to convey this tale of a young woman who falls for a headstrong, restless cowboy.
—Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 31 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'meld.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Verb (1)
German melden to announce, from Old High German meldōn; akin to Old English meldian to announce, Lithuanian malda prayer
Noun (1)
derivative of meld entry 1
Verb (2)
blend of melt and weld
Noun (2)
derivative of meld entry 3
Verb (1)
1887, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Noun (1)
1887, in the meaning defined above
Verb (2)
1919, in the meaning defined above
Noun (2)
1954, in the meaning defined above
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Dictionary Entries Near meld
Cite this Entry
“Meld.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meld. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
meld
1 of 2 verbmeld
2 of 2 noun
More from Merriam-Webster on meld
Nglish: Translation of meld for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of meld for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about meld
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