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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
Lighthizer traces his idealization of manufacturing to his childhood on the shores of Lake Erie, where ferry boats helped deliver ore from Minnesota’s iron range to blast furnaces in Pennsylvania.
—Gordon H. Hanson, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023
According to York Archaeology, the blocks were cut from slag—a stony byproduct of smelting ore in a blast furnace, which was an important component of English industry in the 1800s.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 May 2024
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
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
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 21 Jun. 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
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about blast furnace
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