emulsify
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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emulsifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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emulsified,
past participle, past
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emulsifying
present participle
verb
Usage
What does emulsify mean? To emulsify is to form an emulsion—a mixture of two liquids that don’t fully combine. An emulsion may look like a single liquid, but it’s made up of particles of one liquid distributed throughout another liquid. For example, if you emulsify oil and water, it forms an emulsion in which small droplets of oil are suspended in the water, but the two liquids aren’t fully blended together (as they would be if you stirred together water and vinegar, for example). In technical chemistry terms, an emulsion is a colloidal suspension in which the substances mixed together are both liquids. Both colloids and suspensions involve particles of one substance distributed in another without being dissolved. Emulsions are used in a variety of contexts, including pharmacology, cooking, and photography. In cooking, liquids or liquid-like ingredients are emulsified in order to make sauces with a smooth consistency. A common example of an emulsion is the kind of salad dressings called a vinaigrette, which is made by emulsifying oil and vinegar. Example: To emulsify oil and vinegar, you have to whisk very hard to separate the oil into tiny droplets, or else the two liquids will separate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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emulsibilitynoun
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emulsifiabilitynoun
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emulsificationnoun
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emulsifiernoun
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emulsibleadjective
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emulsifiableadjective
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unemulsifiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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emulsifysimple
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emulsifiessimple
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have emulsifiedperfect
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has emulsifiedperfect
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am emulsifyingprogressive
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are emulsifyingprogressive
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is emulsifyingprogressive
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have been emulsifyingperfect progressive
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has been emulsifyingperfect progressive
Past
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emulsifiedsimple
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had emulsifiedperfect
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was emulsifyingprogressive
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were emulsifyingprogressive
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had been emulsifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of emulsify
First recorded in 1855–60; from Latin ēmuls(us) ( see emulsion) + -ify
Explanation
When you emulsify something, you mix it so thoroughly that it becomes an emulsion, or a mixture of two liquids that can't be completely blended together. Home cooks emulsify any time they make a good oil-based salad dressing, thoroughly mixing the oil with the vinegar or other liquid ingredients. While the oil, because it's not soluble, can't be completely combined with the vinegar, you can emulsify the two so that the tiny drops of oil are dispersed across the volume of vinegar and the texture of the salad dressing is satisfying. Emulsify comes from the Latin word emulsus, or "milked out."
Vocabulary lists containing emulsify
Fast Food Nation
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Lupe Wong Won't Dance
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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:
The therapy is a diglyceride formulation -- two omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, bound to a glyceride molecule -- which enhances their ability to emulsify into tiny, concentrated particles.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2024
According to Rick Rogers, author of “Tips Cooks Love,” “mustard can absorb about twice its weight in liquid, so as it soaks up the vinegar and oil, it helps emulsify these two very different ingredients.”
From Washington Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Butter can be tricky to smoothly emulsify into a sauce; it helps to start with cold butter and shake the skillet back and forth as it melts, rather than stir the butter into the sauce.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2023
“The Good John Proctor” shares DNA with Monahon’s other plays, which thoroughly emulsify history and fiction to give voice to previously marginal figures or to connect historical events to our moment.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2023
Weigh out agar powder, 20 grammes, and emulsify it with 250 c.c. of the cold serum water.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by J. W. H. (John William Henry) Eyre
But you’d only be partially correct since the turn emulsifies the supernatural into the ludicrous.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2023
Lana Wilson’s documentary “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” a Times critic’s pick, emulsifies the actress’s biography with insights into the culture that shaped her.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
The mixture will split at first, but keep on whisking until it emulsifies.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2021
Did you know molasses emulsifies the olive oil and keeps the little fat molecules from stumbling into each other, thus allowing the oil and vinegar to mix?
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 6, 2020
The washing of wool is in the main a mechanical process, in which the water dissolves out the suint while the soap emulsifies the yolk and thus removes it from the fibre.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 1 "Bisharin" to "Bohea" by Various
Even a simple vinaigrette could become something a little more luxe, fully emulsified.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2026
The team says that result confirmed the hypothesis that VFD processing could be a "green" one-step technique for more stable, emulsified viscous liquids.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024
According to the Journal of Food Science, the ethanol also helps more evenly disperse the fat, keeping the emulsified sauce bound, glossy and creamy.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
If the oil has separated from the paste, decant the tahini to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high in 30-second bursts, stirring after each, until emulsified and smooth.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 2022
If the dressing is thin and curdled, the oil has been added too quickly, i.e. it has not been emulsified.
From School and Home Cooking by Carlotta Cherryholmes Greer
Whisk it all together or shake it up in a lidded jar for easy emulsifying.
From Salon ● May 17, 2021
Improvisatory in feel but not in fact, Mr. Roberts’s choreography merges his own distinct rhythmic sensibility with the energy signature of each dancer, emulsifying contemporary physicality and period cool.
From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2020
You can also apply an emulsifying ointment or olive or coconut oil – not inside – to act as a moisturiser.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 8, 2019
Milk is an emulsion of butterfat in water, with the protein casein serving as the emulsifying agent.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
"Any mixtures of various lots of cheese and other solids derived from milk with emulsifying agents, coloring matter, seasonings, condiments, relishes and water, heated or not, into a homogeneous mass."
From The Complete Book of Cheese by Robert Carlton Brown
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.
