smelt

[A. S. smelt; cogn. with Danish smelt; Norw.smelt a.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. Lit .: In the same sense as II. *2. Fig .: A gull, a simpleton. "Talk what you will, he is a very smelt." -Beaum. & Flet.: Love's Pilgrimage, v. 2. II. Ichthy.: Osmerus eperlanus ; a small anadromous fish, common on the coasts and in the fresh waters of northern and central Europe, and of corresponding American latitudes, from August to May, returning to the sea after it has deposited its eggs. The Smelt is one of the most delicate food fishes. It is about seven inches long; scales small, oval, and deciduous; back of a transparent greenish tinge; sides silvery. The lower jaw projects beyond the upper. It sometimes becomes landlocked in lakes. [ New Zealand Smelt .] smělt, pret. & pa. par. of v. [SMELL, V. ] smelt, v . t . [Dan. smelte to fuse, to melt; Sw. emälta to smelt, to run, to liquefy; smälta malm to smelt ore; O. Dut. smilten , smelten to melt, to smelt; O. H. German smalzjan ; Ger. schmelzen .] [MELT.] To fuse, as an ore, so as to separate the metal from extraneous substances. "What tools are used in smelting , their figures, use, ., and the whole manner of working."-Boyle: Works, v. 741. smělter, s . [SMELT, v.] One who smelts ore; one whose occupation is to fuse ores. "A name which stamps the locality where the copper and tin were mingled together by the smelter."-Dawkins: Early Man in Britain , ch. xi. [BLAST-FURNACE, REVERBERATORY-FURNACE.] smer-dis, s. [Etym. doubtful, perhaps from Gr. Smerdis the son of Cyrus.] Palæont.: A genus of Percide, from the Eocene of Monte Bolca. smě-rin-thus, s. [Greek smērinthos =a cord, a line, a kind of bird.] Entom.: A genus of Sphingide. Antennæ serrate; no distinct tongue.