liquefy

American  

[lik-wuh-fahy] / ˈlɪk wəˌfaɪ /

verb (used with or without object)

• liquefies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• liquefied,
  past participle,  past
• liquefying
  present participle

1. to make or become liquid.

   Synonyms:

   condense, thaw, dissolve, fuse, melt

   Antonyms:

   evaporate, solidify

---

liquefy British  

/ ˌlɪkwɪˈfækʃən, ˈlɪkwɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. (esp of a gas) to become or cause to become liquid

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• liquefaction
  noun
• liquefier
  noun
• reliquefy
  verb
• liquefactive
  adjective
• liquefiable
  adjective
• nonliquefiable
  adjective
• nonliquefying
  adjective
• unliquefiable
  adjective
• unliquefied
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• liquefying
  present
• liquefied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• liquefy
  simple
• liquefies
  simple
• have liquefied
  perfect
• has liquefied
  perfect
• am liquefying
  progressive
• are liquefying
  progressive
• is liquefying
  progressive
• have been liquefying
  perfect progressive
• has been liquefying
  perfect progressive

Past

• liquefied
  simple
• had liquefied
  perfect
• was liquefying
  progressive
• were liquefying
  progressive
• had been liquefying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will liquefy
  simple
• will have liquefied
  perfect
• will be liquefying
  progressive
• will have been liquefying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of liquefy

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English lyquefyen, from Old French liquefier, translation of Latin liquefacere “to melt” ( see liquefacient); see -fy

Explanation

When you turn a solid into a liquid, like when you set an ice cube in the sunshine and watch it melt into a puddle of water, you liquefy it. You can liquefy a solid by heating it until it melts, and you can also say the substance itself liquefies. A jar of coconut oil that's hard and solid in the refrigerator will liquefy if you leave it on the counter on a warm summer day. The Latin root of liquefy is liquefacere, "make liquid," from liquere, "be fluid," and facere, "to make."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

liquefy liquefies liquefied liquefying

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to most tankers, which has clogged LNG flows, and Iran’s missiles have crippled Qatar’s facilities that liquefy and ship natural gas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026

Calpine appealed to him partly because of its work on carbon capture, a process allowing it to capture the carbon dioxide emissions coming out of plants, liquefy them, and store them underground.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025

Foundries, which liquefy and cast metals, can release hexavalent chromium during melting, welding and grinding.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025

But the company uses the heat generated by the electricity itself, rather than acid, to liquefy the ore.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 30, 2024

Muscles liquefy and reorganize themselves around groups of cells called “imaginal discs,” creating brand-new body parts: wings, legs, antennae, and so on.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

Before that, I gently pierce its skin with a knife, just enough to release the precious fat after it liquefies.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2025

It often decays and liquefies shortly after death.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 21, 2024

The building’s walls and ceilings are constructed with a vegetable-based material that liquefies on hot afternoons to absorb heat and then solidifies at night.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 29, 2023

As the gas liquefies, it shrinks, and becomes six hundred times smaller, making it much easier to transport.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2022

On withdrawing the cell of water, the ice immediately liquefies, and the water trickles from it in drops.

From Fragments of science, V. 1-2 by John Tyndall

RWE said it will instead invest $900 million to acquire an indirect 16% stake in a liquefied natural gas terminal in Louisiana and $300 million to support the development of natural gas turbines.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Of the 62 commercial vessels attacked or boarded near the Strait of Hormuz since March 1, the overwhelming majority have been oil and liquefied natural gas tankers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Its gas output was impacted after the world's largest liquefied natural gas hub, Ras Laffan in northern Qatar, suffered significant damage in the war.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

In normal times the strait accounts for about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

I feel the ground underneath the building rupture—I can almost taste the iron in the liquefied earth.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

As a former undertaker, Morton-Hayward knew the brain is perhaps the softest of the body’s soft tissues: It tends to decay quickly after death, liquefying and leaving only the skull behind.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 19, 2024

People had been liquefying excess Gruyére in a bath of oxidized wine and mopping it up with day-old bread in the Alps for centuries, but the practice had never jumped the pond.

From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2023

It appears that liquefying garbage was allowed to seep into soil, despite requirements that there should be waterproof layers laid under landfills to contain such seepage.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2022

And how did they convey the sandworm rushing through the sand, liquefying every particle in its path?

From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2022

“Maybe we can save some of it,” he says as he finally grasps the Comet can and pulls it out of the water upside down, dumping even more liquefying powder into the tub.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman