emerge
Americanverb (used without object)
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emerges,
present (3rd person singular)
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emerged,
past participle, past
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emerging
present participle
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to come forth into view or notice, as from concealment or obscurity.
a ghost emerging from the grave;
a ship emerging from the fog.
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to rise or come forth from or as if from water or other liquid.
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to come up or arise, as a question or difficulty.
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to come into existence; develop.
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to rise, as from an inferior or unfortunate state or condition.
verb
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to come up to the surface of or rise from water or other liquid
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to come into view, as from concealment or obscurity
he emerged from the cave
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(foll by from) to come out (of) or live (through a difficult experience)
he emerged from his ordeal with dignity
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to become apparent
several interesting things emerged from the report
Usage
What are other ways to say emerge? To emerge is to come forth into view or notice, as from concealment or obscurity. How is emerge different from emanate and issue? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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emergesimple
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emergessimple
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have emergedperfect
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has emergedperfect
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am emergingprogressive
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are emergingprogressive
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is emergingprogressive
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have been emergingperfect progressive
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has been emergingperfect progressive
Past
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emergedsimple
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had emergedperfect
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was emergingprogressive
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were emergingprogressive
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had been emergingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of emerge
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin ēmergere “to arise out of,” equivalent to ē- e- 1 + mergere “to dive, sink”
Explanation
To emerge means to come out into view or come forth. You might hope to emerge from an epic perming session looking like a beauty queen, but chances are it will just look like you got electrocuted. From the Latin emergere, meaning to “rise out or up, bring forth, bring to light,” emerge is an intransitive verb that might bring to mind the image of a whale rising up from the depths of the sea, or of a person popping out from a dark corner to spook you. Appear and peep are synonyms, while dip and sink are antonyms.
Vocabulary lists containing emerge
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The Vernal Vocabulary of Spring
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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:
Of course, it’s too early to know what if anything will emerge in terms of specific legislation governing data center construction and AI safety, two areas of rising public concern.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
These jets are concentrated streams of particles produced when energetic quarks and gluons emerge from a collision.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
“If consciousness started to emerge in training, I would call for everyone to stop AI development until we could design out those properties.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
"Maya's gain is subtler: she can emerge looking less like the presenter of Love Island and more like a genuinely versatile television star," she says.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Performers leaving the back end of the big top disappear into dressing tents and emerge in street clothes.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Cerca Trova, also known as Out West Restaurant Group, proposed selling its assets to Bloomin’ Brands for $26.3 million unless a higher offer emerges during the bankruptcy process.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
That conclusion emerges from an analysis of what are probably the two most momentous past occasions of electoral-outcome uncertainty.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
It emerges as a meeting of the DUP's ruling committee was due to take place on Thursday morning.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
"The exposure-burial history that emerges from the model implies recycling of sediments previously deposited and buried in the rift valley... and then redeposited along the 'Ubeidiya paleo lake shoreline."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
At that moment, a soldier emerges from it.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Over time, a model for publishing online journalism emerged, one very different from the version I had tried to map out on that legal pad in 1995.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2026
PBMs emerged as intermediaries to help health insurers steer doctors and hospitals to the cheapest drug alternatives and give insurers the concentrated heft that would afford them greater leverage in negotiations with drug manufacturers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
But as of Thursday evening no hard evidence had emerged linking the airline hoaxes to Russia, Iran or any proxy groups controlled by them.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
The second downgrade to guidance is a setback to a company that had emerged as a key beneficiary of higher defense spending after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended Europe’s security architecture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
She pushed the hay aside until a boot-clad human foot emerged.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
“There is a tension between higher security and defense spending, putting the public debt ratio on a declining path, and preserving growth-enhancing policies,” said Liam Peach, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Rite-Aid, which once had ranked among the big three of national pharmacy chains, went bankrupt in May 2025, filing for Chapter 11 protection only eight months after emerging from a previous bankruptcy filing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
North Carolina's blueberry growers are facing an emerging threat from a destructive beetle whose larvae feed underground, damaging plant roots and potentially killing blueberry bushes.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
Each week will likely see at least three or four new artists in the chart, giving emerging talent a chance to be heard by hundreds of thousands of listeners.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Without some facial surgery, I might play the perfect game of hide-and-seek—never emerging to make friends.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
