effuse

[ih-fyooz, ih-fyoos]

verb (used with object)

effused, effusing 

1. to pour out or forth; shed; disseminate.

   The town effuses warmth and hospitality.

verb (used without object)

effused, effusing 

1. to exude; flow out.

2. Physics.,  (of a gas) to flow through a very small orifice.

adjective

1. scattered; profuse.

2. Botany.,  spread out loosely.

3. (of certain shells) having the lips separated by a gap or groove.

effuse

verb

1. to pour or flow out

2. to spread out; diffuse

3. (intr) to talk profusely, esp in an excited manner

4. to cause (a gas) to flow or (of a gas) to flow under pressure

adjective

1. botany (esp of an inflorescence) spreading out loosely

Other Word Forms

• uneffused adjective
• uneffusing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of effuse¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin effūs ( us ) (past participle of effundere ) poured out, equivalent to ef- ef- + fūsus poured ( fuse ² )

Word History and Origins

Origin of effuse¹

C16: from Latin effūsus poured out, from effundere to shed, from fundere to pour

Example Sentences

Andrew Schulz effuses on a recent Club Shay Shay episode.

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Yet even as he effused his liberal platform, Newsom couldn’t shake criticism from his opponents that his positions were a mirage.

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“He may be the perfect human being,” effused one anonymous fan.

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Andrews and others effuse about the film, which has its moments — including a famous eight-second sequence involving Andrews bearing her breasts — but “S.O.B.” feels overpraised.

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“My grandfather went on this one time,” Rachel Bloom effused on a recent afternoon.

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