The bridge project required months of structural welding.
She is welding the pipe joint now.
Plastic welding can fuse thermoplastic parts without screws or glue.
The treaty was meant to start welding the provinces into a nation.
The robot is welding identical seams every few seconds.
Similar words
fabrication
attaching
bonding
blending
uniting
fusing
combining
uniting
metalworking
fusing
Meanings
Joining materials by fusion
noun
manufacturing
neutral
The process or skilled activity of joining metal, thermoplastic, or other materials by heat, pressure, or both.
Examples
High-quality welding starts with clean metal surfaces.
The bridge project required months of structural welding.
Robotic welding improved speed on the assembly line.
Plastic welding can fuse thermoplastic parts without screws or glue.
Her apprenticeship covered safety, cutting, and welding.
Similar words
joining
fusion
bonding
fabrication
metalworking
Joining by heat or pressure
verb
manufacturing
neutral
Joining materials by making them fuse, usually with intense heat and sometimes with pressure or filler material.
Examples
She is welding the pipe joint now.
They were welding the chassis when the power failed.
The crew will be welding the steel beams tomorrow.
He kept welding until the bracket held firm.
The robot is welding identical seams every few seconds.
Similar words
fusing
joining
bonding
uniting
attaching
Uniting closely
verb
figurative
neutral
Bringing people, ideas, styles, or parts together so they form a close and coherent whole.
Examples
The architect is welding old stone and new glass into one design.
The speech succeeded by welding anger to hope.
Her style is welding documentary realism with dreamlike color.
The treaty was meant to start welding the provinces into a nation.
The film keeps welding comedy and grief in the same scene.
Similar words
uniting
merging
blending
fusing
integrating
combining
Etymology
From weld, an alteration of obsolete English well meaning to boil, from Middle English wellen. The verb weld is recorded from the late 1500s, and the noun weld from the 1800s.
FAQ
What does welding mean?
Welding is the process or action of joining materials by heat, pressure, or both, especially metal or thermoplastic parts.
Is welding a noun or a verb?
It can be both. As a noun, welding names the process or trade. As a verb, it is the progressive or gerund form of weld.
What is the difference between welding and a weld?
Welding is the process or action. A weld is usually the finished joint made by that process.
Can welding be used figuratively?
Yes. It can describe uniting ideas, styles, groups, or parts into a close whole.
What materials can be joined by welding?
The word most often applies to metals, but it can also apply to thermoplastics and some specialized processes for other materials.
What is the difference between welding and soldering?
Welding usually melts the base material, while soldering joins parts with a lower-melting filler.
What are common types of welding?
Common types include arc welding, MIG welding, TIG welding, resistance welding, laser welding, and friction welding.
Where does welding come from?
Welding comes from weld, which developed from an older English verb meaning to boil.
Comments & contributions
Know this word from another angle? Add a correction, a nuance, or a usage note. New posts go public after a quick review.
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Contribution
Tidy Sandpiper
Jul 14
Hot work is the paperwork word, not exactly a synonym for welding. It also covers cutting, brazing, sometimes grinding, basically jobs that throw heat or sparks. On sites you hear "hot work permit" before anyone strikes an arc.
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Contribution
Opal Mole
Jul 11
One extra English point: a "welding rod" can mean the stick electrode in stick welding, but TIG people may say filler rod for the separate rod they dab into the puddle. Calling every bit of wire a rod sounds a little off.
1
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Contribution
Breezy Penguin
Jul 5
UK ads say MMA a lot where US hobby videos say stick welding. Same process family as SMAW, not a cage-fighting joke lol
2
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Contribution
Lofty Pheasant
Jul 4
For aluminum, "clean it" means more than wiping oil. The oxide skin melts way hotter than the aluminum under it, so people brush or scrape it off and AC TIG helps break it up. Thats why aluminum welding feels fussy to beginners
3
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Olive Lynx
Jul 4
welding galvanized steel is where the casual internet advice gets scary. Zinc fumes can give metal fume fever, and drinking milk is not protection. Grind the coating off and ventilate, or dont do it.
3
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Kind Wombat
Jun 27
Flux-core trips up beginners because the machine looks so much like a little MIG setup. Self-shielded flux-core is not just "MIG but you forgot the gas bottle". The wire has flux inside, it leaves slag, it smokes more, and it copes with wind better than gas-shielded MIG. Dual-shield flux-core is another thing again, flux wire plus external gas. Took me ages to stop mixing those names up tbh
4
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Contribution
Midnight Beaver
Jun 17
In a shop, people say MIG, TIG, and stick as nouns and verbs all the time. "I TIG welded it" sounds normal. If you're writing for a test or a code sheet, the formal names are GMAW, GTAW, and SMAW.