noun
smelt
smehlt
noun
1
A small silvery fish found in cold ocean waters and lakes.
"Fishermen pulled a bucket of smelt from the icy lake."
verb
1
To extract metal from ore by heating and chemically processing it.
"The factory smelts iron ore into usable steel."
"Ancient civilizations learned to smelt copper thousands of years ago."
How to Use Smelt
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a small fish, or the process of extracting metal from ore using heat.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with "smell" — smelt is about processing metal (or a fish), not odors.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
smelted past tense, smelt plural, smelts plural, smelts plural, smelts singular
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “smelt”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
Fishermen pulled a bucket of _____ from the icy lake.
Etymology
From Old English/Germanic smelt, related to melting and metalworking.