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furnace

UK/ˈfɜːnɪs/US/ˈfɝnɪs/
nounB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,095 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: furnaces

A furnace is an enclosed chamber for making very great heat. A blast furnace, the furnace roared, feed the furnace.

A blast furnace runs continuously for years because letting it cool cracks the lining, so the fire is never allowed out. In American usage the furnace is the domestic heating boiler. Figuratively, a hot room or a hard test is a furnace.

Versageek · CC BY 2.5

Definitions of furnace

  1. 1nounfurnaceAn enclosed chamber for making very great heat.B2

    “The steel is melted in a huge furnace before it's poured into moulds.”

furnace is a heating chamber.

Where it comes from

  1. Middle English

    forneys

  2. English, today

    furnace

From Middle English forneys.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

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furnace in the wild

  • Modern high-efficiency furnaces can be up to 98% efficient and operate without a chimney, with a typical gas furnace being about 80% efficient.

    Furnace (central heating)

  • Fuel efficiency in a gas furnace is measured in AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency).

    Furnace (central heating)

  • An electric arc furnace (EAF) is a furnace that heats material by means of an electric arc.

    Electric arc furnace

  • Arc furnaces used in research laboratories and by dentists may have a capacity of only a few dozen grams.

    Electric arc furnace

  • Eventually, the furnace would be used to make small quantities of specialty steels.

    Puddling (metallurgy)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.