Definition of "melting pot" [melt•ing pot]

• A container in which a substance is melted. (noun)
• A place where immigrants of different cultures or races form an integrated society: "Canadians . . . liked to think of their country as a mosaic rather than a melting pot” ( Kenneth McNaught). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Embraced, I very much wanted to believe, by all religions; the one-girl religious melting pot I thought maybe I could be."
• "I think we were probably very different, very ahead of the time, because of Chapel Hill being a melting pot and a non-typical typical Southern town."
• "This huge melting pot of religious and philosophical ideas drew on the beliefs of many cultures-Greek, Persian, Jewish, ancient Egyptian, even the religions of the Far East—to create ideas that underpin our whole culture."