noun
furnace
FUR-nihs
noun
1
A heating device used to melt metal, fire ceramics, or heat a building.
"The old house relied on a coal furnace for heat."
"Workers fed scrap metal into the blast furnace."
2
Any place or situation that is extremely hot.
"By noon the greenhouse had become a furnace."
How to Use Furnace
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA device for producing intense heat (for melting metal or heating a home), or informally any very hot place.
Common pairings
blast furnace
furnace room
like a furnace
Word Forms
furnaced past tense, furnaces plural, furnaces singular
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “furnace”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
The old house relied on a coal _____ for heat.
Etymology
From Old French fornais, from Latin fornax, meaning "oven" or "kiln."