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
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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List 1
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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:
As I moved from darkened room to darkened room, ridiculed in one, flirted with in another, a thread of finding one’s own personal paradise in a hellscape began to emerge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
But after that, new questions emerge: Will insurers pay for treatments that can cost millions of dollars?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Plus, his music sucks, and most people would find it impossible that useful public discourse would ever emerge from an Ed Sheeran concert.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
Even though there are just a few aircraft window-manufacturing firms in existence, it's hard for new competitors to emerge because of how regulated the industry is, adds Stengel.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
As winter melted away, the creatures of The Mountain began to emerge from their long slumber.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Following her critically acclaimed “Fountain Baby,” the Ghanaian American singer emerges with “Black Star,” her most fearless and culturally resonant album yet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
They can only decide whether they trust the decision that emerges.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
If a new queen survives until her first brood emerges as adult workers, though, then the odds are in her favour as she no longer needs to undertake risky foraging.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
But those warnings have become much more stark in recent weeks, as evidence emerges that firms may be struggling to control AI.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
From the passenger seat emerges what looks like a security guard.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Her group reached out to Barrio Athletics founder Henry Gallardo soon after the video emerged, to let him know that he had to pull permits to hold a public event, just like everyone else.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
So-called autocallable ETFs have emerged as a fast-growing area within the booming ETF industry, where investors are increasingly gravitating toward more complicated, actively managed products, some of which feature derivatives like options and swaps.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Out of that large field eventually emerged four companies that produce the bulk of breakfast cereals: Kellogg, General Mills, Post and Quaker Oats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
World number two Luke Humphries also emerged victorious in another England versus Netherlands encounter, progressing 6-4 against Jermaine Wattimena.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Men never remembered her teeth, her real face, the monster that emerged when she let down her hair.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Even Sigmund Freud’s conception of a wild, uninhibited id struggling against the superego was influenced by the emerging discipline of brain science—specifically, the Scottish neurologist and psychologist David Ferrier’s theory of inhibition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
It has 62% of its money in U.S. stocks, another 28% in the stocks of developed markets in places like Europe and Japan, and 10% in emerging markets.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
But a depth of talent, emerging together, sets the current cohort apart.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Even so, parts of northern Sputnik Planitia have been darkened in patterns that resemble features seen on terrestrial glaciers after they are exposed to rainwater or to liquid emerging from beneath the ice.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
For instance, this morning she was saying “Gack!” over and over, which probably meant, “Look at that mysterious figure emerging from the fog!”
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
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.
