Skip to main content
open-hearth process

open-hearth process

8.2
A way of making steel by melting iron and scrap metal in a large open furnace
  • noun
  • /ˈoʊpən hɑrθ ˈprɑsɛs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : proceso de horno abierto
  • The open-hearth process allowed for greater control over the composition of the final steel.

Examples

  • The open-hearth process revolutionized steel production in the late nineteenth century.

  • Many steel mills abandoned the open-hearth process in favor of newer technologies.

  • The open-hearth process revolutionized steel production.

  • Many factories still use the open-hearth process today.

  • Many steel mills abandoned the open-hearth process in favor of newer technologies.

  • The open-hearth process allowed for greater control over the composition of the final steel.

  • The open-hearth process revolutionized steel production in the late nineteenth century.

Surface Forms

Morphology

open-hearth + process

The phrase names a type of method (process) that uses an open-hearth (open + hearth) furnace, so its overall meaning is directly and compositionally derivable from its parts. Although the term is technical, a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would reasonably infer it denotes the method of producing steel using an open hearth.

Etymology

The noun open-hearth process comes from the words open and hearth, meaning an open furnace where workers melted iron and scrap metal in the open air. That's why it means 'a method of making steel' by melting those materials in that open hearth.