evaporate
Americanverb (used without object)
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evaporates,
present (3rd person singular)
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evaporated,
past participle, past
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evaporating
present participle
verb (used with object)
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evaporates,
present (3rd person singular)
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evaporated,
past participle, past
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evaporating
present participle
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to convert into a gaseous state or vapor; drive off or extract in the form of vapor.
The warm sun evaporated the dew.
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to extract moisture or liquid from, as by heat, so as to make dry or to reduce to a denser state.
to evaporate fruit.
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to cause to disappear or fade; dissipate.
His involvement in the scandal evaporated any hope he had for a political career.
verb
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to change or cause to change from a liquid or solid state to a vapour Compare boil 1
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to lose or cause to lose liquid by vaporization, leaving a more concentrated residue
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to disappear or cause to disappear; fade away or cause to fade away
all her doubts evaporated
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(tr) to deposit (a film, metal, etc) by vaporization of a liquid or solid and the subsequent condensation of its vapour
Usage
What does evaporate mean? Evaporate means to change from a liquid or solid state into vapor (like fog, mist, or steam). It can be used in a passive way, as in The water evaporated overnight, or an active way, as in The sun evaporates the water on the surface. The process of evaporating is called evaporation. Both terms are typically used in the context of water turning into water vapor. Water evaporates when it changes into steam through boiling, but in scientific terms, evaporation typically refers to the change of a liquid into a vapor at a temperature below the boiling point, such as when water evaporates from the surface of the ocean. In this way, evaporation is an important part of the water cycle. Evaporate can also be used in a figurative way meaning to disappear, as in The family’s wealth has evaporated, and now they have nothing. Example: The dew on the grass evaporates more quickly in the sunny parts of the yard.
Synonym Usage
Evaporate, dehydrate, dry mean to abstract moisture from. To evaporate is to remove moisture by means of heat, forced ventilation, or the like, and thus to produce condensation or shriveling: to evaporate milk, sliced apples. To dehydrate is to remove moisture from a vegetable, fruit, or body tissue: to dehydrate fruit; dehydrated from running. To dry may mean to wipe moisture off the surface or to withdraw moisture by natural means, such as exposure to air or heat: to dry a dish, clothes.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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evaporabilitynoun
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evaporationnoun
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evaporatornoun
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preevaporateverb
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evaporableadjective
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evaporativeadjective
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half-evaporatedadjective
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half-evaporatingadjective
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nonevaporatingadjective
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unevaporatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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evaporatesimple
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evaporatessimple
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have evaporatedperfect
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has evaporatedperfect
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am evaporatingprogressive
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are evaporatingprogressive
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is evaporatingprogressive
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have been evaporatingperfect progressive
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has been evaporatingperfect progressive
Past
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evaporatedsimple
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had evaporatedperfect
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was evaporatingprogressive
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were evaporatingprogressive
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had been evaporatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of evaporate
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English evaporaten, from Latin ēvapōrātus (past participle of ēvapōrāre “to disperse in vapor”); see e- 1, vapor, -ate 1
Explanation
To evaporate is to fade away or to literally turn into vapor. If you leave a glass of water out and the water slowly disappears, it's not being consumed by elves; it's evaporating. People often use the word evaporate metaphorically because it produces a strong image of something disappearing like vapor. When the economy goes through a rough patch, funding for projects like education and the arts tends to evaporate or disappear. Your feelings for a mate might evaporate after you spend too much time with him or her.
Vocabulary lists containing evaporate
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50 Great Words from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
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Structure and Properties of Matter - Middle School
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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:
Eisenman adds that fans can cause more water to evaporate from your skin in dry conditions such as L.A., further drying you out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
They move air across the skin, which can help sweat evaporate and make people feel cooler.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
Richard Windsor, an independent analyst at Radio Free Mobile, said Alphabet’s earnings-per-share figure hinged largely on the “illusory security of a series of unrealized investment returns that will evaporate at the first hint of trouble.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
These two-in-one shorts layer a lightweight shell over a liner that’s constructed from cloud-shaped fibers which boost the surface area sweat can evaporate from.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Seeing him made questions and worries evaporate, and I remained transfixed, caught and caressed by the essential elements of sky and earth and water.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
When rain falls in the summer months, high daytime temperatures can mean that the water quickly evaporates away from the soil.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
The graphite cubes in the cap soak up water and spread it across a larger surface area than your forehead so it evaporates faster, making you feel cooler, according to research.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Heat domes can cause "dry thunderstorms," in which rain evaporates before hitting the ground and lightning strikes are liable to trigger wildfires, as much of the western United States is already experiencing drought conditions.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
That is the real prize, and it evaporates the instant one man tries to seize it all.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Some of it evaporates into the air, where it creates acid rain.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
By simply changing the number of bubbles in each droplet, the team found they could dramatically alter the pattern left behind as the liquid evaporated.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
While Platner—whose lead in the race had evaporated after a previous wave of stories about his relationship history—has not yet relented, he has suggested that he’s reassessing his run.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
During hot weather our body controls our internal temperature by sweating and as the sweat is evaporated from our skin, it cools the air directly next to us, making us feel cooler.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
That said, net profit practically evaporated, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
She’d seen the gesture, too, and all her anger evaporated.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Dry land encourages higher temperatures because less of the Sun's energy is used in evaporating moisture, leaving more available to heat the ground and the air.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
"We can apply these generalized laws to better understand evaporating black holes in quantum theory and black hole mergers, like those detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration using gravitational waves."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
The nightmare scenario is playing out in Los Angeles, where a century-old entertainment economy is evaporating with no signs of a turnaround on the horizon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
“The argument for having lower rates is just evaporating right before our very eyes,” said Brian Bethune, an economist at Boston College, in an interview with MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 28, 2026
Time had a way of evaporating instantly when he was engrossed in an interesting project, such as cataloging his baseball cards, or reading a good mystery.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
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.
