vase
Americannoun
-
vases
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Our collective image of a humongous horse on wheels came down from centuries’ worth of artists’ interpretations: A Greek vase from 675 BCE.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
If somebody gave you a seed, you put it in a vase with fresh dirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
"I can't lay my eyes on my favourite place at home, on some elements of my house, a vase, a view from my window," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
In fact, it goes back at least 2,500 years: An ancient vase in the Louvre carries a notice that reads, “Buy me and you’ll get a bargain.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
I ran into the kitchen, plucked the roses from the vase, and headed for the front door.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Elegant hand-blown glass vases sit beside ceramic crater pots on warm cherry shelves.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
When she took a ceramics class in 2015, she started making vases, animals and decor, often hand-building and carving her unique vessels while watching TV in her living room.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
“Classical Body,” which pairs Attic vases and flasks with a series of fluted Grecian gowns elevated above—super-model goddesses in pale gold—sets the aspirational yet unforgiving female physical ideal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
In a trip in November 2013 to Vincenzo Caffarella, a decorative arts and antiques shop in London, £170,000 was allegedly spent on a "vast amount of property" including Venetian lamps and vases.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
Her solitary breakfast did not taste good, and the room seemed lonely and untidy, for Jo had not filled the vases, Beth had not dusted, and Amy’s books lay scattered about.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
