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

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liquefy British  

/ ˌlɪkwɪˈfækʃən, ˈlɪkwɪˌfaɪ /

verb

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

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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

Egypt has facilities to liquefy natural gas that allow the energy source to be shipped abroad.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

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

Lourdes felt the clot dislodge and liquefy beneath her breasts, float through her belly, and slide down her thighs.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

Who’s washing it, chopping it, remembering it exists in the crisper drawer before it liquefies?

From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026

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

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2022

Nutrient-rich seal oil is rendered from the cold-water animal’s fat, which liquefies at room temperature.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 23, 2019

The line stops at 111 K because methane liquefies at this temperature; when extrapolated, it intersects the graph’s origin, representing a temperature of absolute zero.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

Drink water by pailfuls: it is a universal dissolvent; water liquefies all the salts.

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)—Continental Europe I by Henry Cabot Lodge

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

While the effects from the war mostly benefited ExxonMobil, damage to key liquefied natural gas assets in Qatar dented output.

From Barron's ● 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 stared at the problem until my liquefied eyeballs were about to drip out of their sockets and roll down my cheeks.

From "Ungifted" by Gordon Korman

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

Companies are developing and marketing varied and creative ways to store renewable energy: liquefying carbon dioxide, de-rusting iron, heating towers filled with sand to temperatures almost hot enough to melt aluminum.

From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2024

“Having electrolyzers and liquefying at all regional airports is just a dream,” said Pierre Farjounel, general manager of Universal in Europe.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 21, 2023

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

The other Tidemaker did the same, features liquefying, but then solidifying once more, his face gray, speckled with bits of metal.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo