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Glite Dictionary
to melt off

to melt off

1 4.1
To lose extra body weight slowly until it goes away
  • phrasal verb
  • /mɛlt ɔf/
  • Informal
translation icon : perder peso
  • With regular exercise and healthy eating, the pounds can melt off without much effort.
  • melt off the pounds
  • melt off weight

Examples

  • Immediately, the weight started to melt off just as I had read that it would.

    Blog text (12)

  • He then tried the slow carb diet, and the weight melted off!

    Blog text (8)

  • After sticking to his diet, he noticed the weight starting to melt off gradually.

  • She was thrilled to see the weight melt off after just a few weeks of consistent workouts.

Synonyms

to burn off
vsto melt off
8 3.4

Use up energy by physical activity

is gradual weight loss that appears slowly and noticeably rather than calorie burning
to slim down
vsto melt off
5 3.0

To lose weight and become thinner

is a gradual, noticeable reduction of body weight rather than neutral thinning

How Slim

to melt off
  • Informal
1 4.1
to slim down
5 3.0
to lose fat
4 3.0

Surface Forms

melt off infinitive
melted off past
melted off past participle
melting off present participle
melts off third person singular

Morphology

melt + off

The sense 'lose body weight as if it were melting away' follows a clear metaphorical extension of 'melt' (to disappear gradually) combined with 'off' (indicating removal), so a learner who knows both words can infer a general sense of something coming away gradually. However, mapping that general sense specifically to bodily weight is a metaphorical transfer rather than fully literal composition, so the relation is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Melt off gives a simple picture: the word melt and the word off suggest something turning to liquid and running away. Imagine fat or snow slowly melting and dripping off a surface, and you can see why melt off means 'to lose weight' slowly and noticeably.