blast furnace

noun

: a furnace in which combustion is forced by a current of air under pressure
especially : one for the reduction of iron ore

Examples of blast furnace in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web That would be Nucor, which makes steel with electric furnaces that melt scrap and other raw materials, rather than with the massive blast furnaces used by US Steel and Cleveland Cliffs. Chris Isidore, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024 Andrew Morton stood in the sun on the smokestacks of a blast furnace the day the Francis Scott Key Bridge opened on March 23, 1977, watching the first cars cross the bridge. Sophie Hills, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Apr. 2024 The blast furnace of volcanoes has fallen silent, replaced by a cheery chorus of birdsong trilling from the branches and echoing through a garden of stone. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 11 Apr. 2024 The Japanese steelmaker, which operates 11 blast furnaces, expects to improve the efficiency of U.S. Steel’s furnaces while also reducing their carbon footprint, the person said. David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2024 The old council chamber, built in the shape of a blast furnace, was now a lecture hall. Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024 Bethlehem Steel was once a symbol of American manufacturing might, the output of its blast furnaces used in the construction of the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. Akayla Gardner, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024 The output of its blast furnaces formed the tanks, planes and aircraft carriers that helped win World War II, as well as the automobiles and appliances that consumers purchased during the postwar boom. Jeff Stein, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024 These furnaces use electricity to melt scrap steel and other metals as opposed to blast furnaces, which use coke or fossil fuels. Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 29 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blast furnace.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1706, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of blast furnace was in 1706

Dictionary Entries Near blast furnace

Cite this Entry

“Blast furnace.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blast%20furnace. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

blast furnace

noun
: a furnace in which combustion is forced by a stream of air under pressure
especially : one for the reduction of iron ore

More from Merriam-Webster on blast furnace

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