molten

adjective mol·ten \ ˈmōl-tᵊn \

Definition of molten

1 obsolete :made by melting and casting

2 :fused or liquefied by heat :melted

molten lava

3 :having warmth or brilliance :glowing

the molten sunlight of warm skies
—T. B. Costain

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Recent Examples of molten from the Web

Instead of panels, solar thermal plants use giant arrays of mirrors to direct sunlight at a central tower filled with molten salt.

— avery thompson, Popular Mechanics, "South Australia to Build an Enormous Solar Thermal Plant," 15 Aug. 2017
The Tonopah plant was completed in 2015, but it was recently taken offline for eight months after a leak was discovered in a molten salt tank.

— megan geuss, Ars Technica, "South Australia okays giant solar thermal plant from SolarReserve," 14 Aug. 2017
Standard Roman empire stuff, except for this part: The Parthians poured molten gold into his throat as punishment for his greediness.

— eliza thompson, Cosmopolitan, "8 Totally Real Things That Inspired Game of Thrones," 26 July 2017
The sun’s energy in some cases can heat molten salt to 490 degrees Celsius (914 degrees Fahrenheit), which allows operators to predict when electricity will flow.

— anna hirtenstein, Bloomberg.com, "Solar Plants Aim to Keep Lights on at Night," 18 July 2017
Thousands of years ago, molten rock from Newberry Volcano devoured a standing forest, leaving the trees encased in hard rock when the lava cooled.

— jeff layton, The Seattle Times, "Lava lands add geologic ‘wow’ to Bend’s big attractions," 14 June 2017
One of them, Vishwanauth Jailall, worked for about six years at a facility in Minnesota pouring molten metals including beryllium into casts for airplane parts.

— barry meier and danielle ivory, New York Times, "Under Trump, Worker Protections Are Viewed With New Skepticism," 5 June 2017
But China is showing a new way forward—ironically, with a technology developed, then shelved, by the U.S. Molten salt reactors were first developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in the 1950s.

— National Geographic, "100 Practical Ways to Reverse Climate Change," 28 May 2017
At 11 a.m. kids can make molten lava slime inspired by the duel at Mustafar between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

— anita gosch, Orange County Register, "Family fun calendar: May 2017," 19 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'molten.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of molten

Middle English, from past participle of melten to melt

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First Known Use: 14th century

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MOLTEN Defined for English Language Learners

molten

adjective

Definition of molten for English Language Learners

: melted by heat

MOLTEN Defined for Kids

molten

adjective mol·ten \ ˈmōl-tᵊn \

Definition of molten for Students

:melted especially by very great heat

molten metal

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Spanish Central: Translation of molten Nglish: Translation of molten for Spanish speakers

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