mist

[ mist ]
See synonyms for mist on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a cloudlike aggregation of minute globules of water suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface, reducing visibility to a lesser degree than fog.

  2. a cloud of particles resembling this:She sprayed a mist of perfume onto her handkerchief.

  1. something that dims, obscures, or blurs: the mist of ignorance.

  2. a haze before the eyes that dims the vision: a mist of tears.

  3. a suspension of a liquid in a gas.

  4. a drink of liquor served over cracked ice.

  5. a fine spray produced by a vaporizer to add moisture to the air for breathing.

verb (used without object)
  1. to become misty.

  2. to rain in very fine drops; drizzle (usually used impersonally with it as subject): It was misting when they went out for lunch.

verb (used with object)
  1. to make misty.

  2. to spray (plants) with a finely diffused jet of water, as a means of replacing lost moisture.

Origin of mist

1
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch, Low German, Swedish mist; akin to Greek omíchlē “fog,” Russian mgla “mist,” Sanskrit megha “cloud”; (verb) Middle English misten,Old English mistian, derivative of the noun

synonym study For mist

3, 4. See cloud.

Other words from mist

  • mistless, adjective
  • de·mist, verb (used with object)
  • un·der·mist, noun

Words that may be confused with mist

Other definitions for mist. (2 of 2)

mist.

abbreviation
  1. (in prescriptions) a mixture.

Origin of mist.

2
From the Latin word mistūra

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use mist in a sentence

  • She set off down Trafalgar Road in the mist and the rain, glad that she had been compelled to walk.

    Hilda Lessways | Arnold Bennett
  • Specimens were easily collected in a mist net placed across the opening.

  • For a moment there seemed a sudden light before her eyes, and then a dark mist; in another she recovered herself.

    Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
  • I have blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist: return to me, for I have redeemed thee.

  • A damp mist rose from the river and the marshy ground about, and spread itself over the dreary fields.

British Dictionary definitions for mist

mist

/ (mɪst) /


noun
  1. a thin fog resulting from condensation in the air near the earth's surface

  2. meteorol such an atmospheric condition with a horizontal visibility of 1–2 kilometres

  1. a fine spray of any liquid, such as that produced by an aerosol container

  2. chem a colloidal suspension of a liquid in a gas

  3. condensed water vapour on a surface that blurs the surface

  4. something that causes haziness or lack of clarity, such as a film of tears

verb
  1. to cover or be covered with or as if with mist

Origin of mist

1
Old English; related to Middle Dutch, Swedish mist, Greek omikhlē fog

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for mist

mist

[ mĭst ]


  1. A mass of fine droplets of water in the atmosphere near or in contact with the Earth. Mist reduces visibility to not less than 1 km (0.62 mi). Compare fog.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.