See Also: Furnace(medicine)
arc furnace(encyclopedia)
furnace(dictionary)
furnace(dictionary)
blast furnace(dictionary)
reverberatory furnace(encyclopedia)
furnace (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
electric furnace(encyclopedia)
blast furnace(encyclopedia)
dental furnace(medicine)

furnace (iou)



furnace noun & verb. ME.
[Old French fornais(e) (mod. fournaise), from Latin fornax, fornac-, from fornus, furnus oven.]
A. noun.
An apparatus or structure consisting of a combustion chamber in which minerals, metals, etc., may be subjected to continuous intense heat. Formerly also, an oven or chamber for producing a low continuous heat (as for incubation). ME.
blast furnace, electric arc furnace, open-hearth furnace, etc.
A. Koestler The sky was like a furnace and the sun its open door.
b. fig. A place of intense heat; a severe test or trial. ME.
Bible (AV): Isaiah 48:10 I haue chosen thee in the fornace of affliction.
c. (The fires of) a volcano. rhet. or poet. M17.
A boiler, a cauldron. obsolete exc. dial. ME.
A closed fireplace for heating a building by means of hot-water pipes etc. L17.
(Usu. Furnace.) The constellation Fornax. Orig. the Chemist's Furnace. M19.
b. verb.
verb trans. & intrans. fig. Exhale or issue as from a smoking furnace. Long rare or obsolete. L16.
verb trans. Subject to the heat of a furnace. E17.