vanish
[van-ish]
- to disappear from sight, especially quickly; become invisible: The frost vanished when the sun came out.
- to go away, especially furtively or mysteriously; disappear by quick departure: The thief vanished in the night.
- to disappear by ceasing to exist; come to an end: The pain vanished after he took an aspirin.
- Mathematics. (of a number, quantity, or function) to become zero.
- to cause to disappear.
- Phonetics. the last part of a vowel sound when it differs noticeably in quality from the main sound, as the faint (ē) at the end of the (ā) in the pronunciation of pain.
Origin of vanish
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com1. evanesce.
Synonym study
1. See disappear.
Antonyms
1. appear.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for vanish
Contemporary Examples
Previously unknown papyri crop up only to vanish into private collections and out of the sight of scholars forever.
There he claims he saw a luminous object change colors several times then vanish into the night sky.
1980: America’s First Extraterrestrial ElectionOctober 15, 2014
This teacher says that the wretched Soviet regime will vanish and life will return to normal.
Inside ‘Maidan’: Sergei Loznitsa on His Ukrainian Uprising Doc and Putin’s ‘Fascist’ RegimeRichard Porton
May 24, 2014
But what made The Beatles and The Beach Boys so spectacular vocally was that they could vanish into each other with their voices.
She would also vanish for days or sometimes weeks at a time.
Historical Examples
And now they all vanish in a puff of smoke from the chimney.
Old Ticonderoga, A Picture of The PastNathaniel Hawthorne
If it is a town, it is one of those towns that vanish, like a city of tents.
Alarms and DiscursionsG. K. Chesterton
There things may come and go, rise and vanish—he neither desires nor bemoans them.
A Dish Of OrtsGeorge MacDonald
I must vanish from your life, be gone as completely as though I had never entered it.
The Inn at the Red OakLatta Griswold
The crew held their breaths as if the apparition might vanish as suddenly as it appeared.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
vanish
- to disappear, esp suddenly or mysteriously
- to cease to exist; fade away
- maths to become zero
- phonetics rare the second and weaker of the two vowels in a falling diphthong
Word Origin
C14: vanissen, from Old French esvanir, from Latin ēvānēscere to evaporate, from ē- ex- 1 + vānēscere to pass away, from vānus empty
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
Word Origin and History for vanish
v.
c.1300, from shortened form of stem of Old French esvanir "disappear," from Vulgar Latin *exvanire, from Latin evanescere "disappear, die out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + vanescere "vanish," from vanus "empty" (see vain). Related: Vanished; vanishing. Vanishing point in perspective drawing is recorded from 1797.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with vanish
vanish
see under into thin air.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.