Definition of "hearth" []

• The floor of a fireplace, usually extending into a room and paved with brick, flagstone, or cement. (noun)
• Family life; the home. (noun)
• Metallurgy The lowest part of a blast furnace or cupola, from which the molten metal flows. (noun)
• Metallurgy The bottom of a reverberatory furnace, where ore is exposed to the flame. (noun)
• The fireplace or brazier of a blacksmith's forge. (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.

• "Behind the hearth is a recess in the wall to contain cooking utensils."
• "The walk-in hearth or settle fireplace (with a bench at either side of the hearth) was common."
• "Her face was wrapped in the folds of her cloak, but I heard her whisper, as if to herself: 'No! no! That old hearth is not a lodestone."