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furnace
(fʉr′nəs)
noun
- an enclosed chamber or structure in which heat is produced, as by burning fuel, for warming a building, reducing ores and metals, etc.
- any extremely hot place
- a grueling test or trial
Origin: ME furnaise < OFr fornais < L fornax (gen. fornacis), furnace: see warm
See furnace in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- An enclosure in which energy in a nonthermal form is converted to heat, especially such an enclosure in which heat is generated by the combustion of a suitable fuel.
- An intensely hot place: the furnace of the sun; an attic room that is a furnace in the summer.
- A severe test or trial: endured the furnace of his friends' blame after the accident.
Origin:
Origin: Middle English
Origin: , from Old French fornais
Origin: , from Latin fornāx, fornāc-, oven; see gwher- in Indo-European roots
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