vase
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- vaselike adjective
Etymology
Origin of vase
1555–65; < French < Latin vās vessel
Explanation
The tall container you put flowers in is a vase. Thanks for the enormous bouquet of daisies — I'll need to find a large enough vase to fit them in! A vase is a glass or ceramic container that serves only a decorative function — in other words, you're unlikely to serve a guest a big glass of lemonade in a vase. Vases are generally tall and narrow, to accommodate flower stems. Some vases are curvy and others are straight. In North America, vase usually rhymes with "face," which was its original English pronunciation, though modern British speakers say it so it rhymes with "blahs" instead.
Vocabulary lists containing vase
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sonny finds himself tripping over his ineptitude and tangled up in conflicting sympathies—he’s almost as anxious as his hostages, whom he treats with an apologetic kindliness, almost like a party crasher who’s broken a vase.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
The video also showed Kim presenting Lukashenko with a large mosaic vase bearing a portrait of the Belarusian, with the North Korean leader appearing to explain that crafting it involved around 30 seashells.
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
The snail's pace is intentional: as if carrying a precious Ming vase, the slow, gentle motion reduces stresses on the multi‑billion‑dollar rocket and launch tower.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
The final result was a near picture-perfect replica of the Brady abode: the floating staircase, the groovy orange kitchen counters, even the famous vase destroyed by a stray basketball during a famous episode.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026
My favorite is of a vase of sunflowers by Claude Monet.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
