Library / English Dictionary

VAPORIZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Decrease rapidly and disappear

Example:

all my stock assets have vaporized

Synonyms:

fly; vanish; vaporize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "vaporize" is one way to...):

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen (decrease in size, extent, or range)

Verb group:

fell; fly; vanish (pass away rapidly)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lose or cause to lose liquid by vaporization leaving a more concentrated residue

Example:

evaporate milk

Synonyms:

evaporate; vaporise; vaporize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "vaporize" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "vaporize"):

transpire (exude water vapor)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence examples:

The water vaporizes

They vaporize the water

Derivation:

vapor (the process of becoming a vapor)

vapor (a visible suspension in the air of particles of some substance)

vaporizable ((used of substances) capable of being volatilized)

vaporization (the process of becoming a vapor)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Turn into gas

Example:

The substance gasified

Synonyms:

aerify; gasify; vaporise; vaporize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "vaporize" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "vaporize"):

sublimate; sublime (change or cause to change directly from a solid into a vapor without first melting)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

vapor (the process of becoming a vapor)

vapor (a visible suspension in the air of particles of some substance)

vaporizable ((used of substances) capable of being volatilized)

vaporization (the process of becoming a vapor)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Kill with or as if with a burst of gunfire or electric current or as if by shooting

Example:

in this computer game, space travellers are vaporized by aliens

Synonyms:

vaporize; zap

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "vaporize" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Credits

 Context examples: 

According to the differing isotope ratios of the element magnesium in these samples – specifically, Earth and Mars have largely retained only the heavier forms of the chemical – substantial amounts of magnesium must have vaporized when the planets formed.

(Fiery Collisions That Gave Birth to Earth Could Have Evaporated 40% of Our World, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The most accessible source is CO2 in the polar ice caps; it could be vaporized by spreading dust on it to absorb more solar radiation or by using explosives.

(Mars Terraforming Not Possible Using Present-Day Technology, NASA)