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

---

liquefy British  

/ ˈlɪkwɪˌfaɪ /

verb

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

---

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

The plan is to pipe natural gas from Alaska’s far north, liquefy it and export it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil's projects require onshore facilities to liquefy the gas so it can be transported by sea.

From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026

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

Muscles liquefy and reorganize themselves around groups of cells called “imaginal discs,” creating brand-new body parts: wings, legs, antennae, and so on.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

Before that, I gently pierce its skin with a knife, just enough to release the precious fat after it liquefies.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2025

The building’s walls and ceilings are constructed with a vegetable-based material that liquefies on hot afternoons to absorb heat and then solidifies at night.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 29, 2023

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

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2022

The separation of oxygen from air begins with cooling and compressing the air until it liquefies.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

The special advantage of the sawdust is that it tends to absorb the cyanide in case it liquefies, as it often does in damp weather.

From Butterflies Worth Knowing by Clarence M. Weed

Woodside has signaled it will ship a first cargo of liquefied natural gas from Scarborough some time between October and December.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Some 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas used to pass through the strait before the war and its closure has caused wild fluctuations of prices.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

The vessels were carrying oil and liquefied natural gas, raising the risk of an explosion, a collision or an oil spill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Under Putin, Russia has tied its future to the Arctic and the region’s natural resources, including liquefied natural gas.

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026

Around to the other side of the building, tanker trucks pump in thousands of gallons of liquefied fat, usually beef fat from a nearby slaughterhouse.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

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

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

It appears that liquefying garbage was allowed to seep into soil, despite requirements that there should be waterproof layers laid under landfills to contain such seepage.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2022

Nathan sang the Change song again and instead of thinking of water solidifying, he thought of it liquefying and transforming into mist.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young