open-hearth furnace
noun · n
Simple meaning
A furnace for making steel in which the steel is placed on a shallow hearth and flames of burning gas and hot air play over it.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ohpuhnhahrthfernuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈoʊpənˈhɑɹθfɚnəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A furnace for making steel in which the steel is placed on a shallow hearth and flames of burning gas and hot air play over it
n
An open-hearth furnace or open hearth furnace is any of several kinds of industrial furnace in which excess carbon and other impurities are burnt out of pig iron to produce steel.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A furnace for making steel in which the steel is placed on a shallow hearth and flames of burning gas and hot air play over it
Used this way, open-hearth furnace is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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