vapor

[ vey-per ]

/ ˈveɪ pər /

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See synonyms for: vapor / vapored / vaporing on Thesaurus.com

noun

a visible exhalation, as fog, mist, steam, smoke, or noxious gas, diffused through or suspended in the air: the vapors rising from the bogs.

Physics. a gas at a temperature below its critical temperature.

a substance converted into vapor for technical or medicinal uses.

a combination of a vaporized substance and air.

gaseous particles of drugs that can be inhaled as a therapeutic agent.

Archaic.

a strange, senseless, or fantastic notion.
something insubstantial or transitory.

vapors, Archaic.

mental depression or hypochondria.
injurious exhalations formerly supposed to be produced within the body, especially in the stomach.

verb (used with object)

to cause to rise or pass off in, or as if in, vapor; vaporize.

Archaic. to affect with vapors; depress.

verb (used without object)

to rise or pass off in the form of vapor.

to emit vapor or exhalations.

to talk or act grandiloquently, pompously, or boastfully; bluster.

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Also especially British, va·pour .

Origin of vapor

1325–75; Middle English vapour<Latin vapor steam

OTHER WORDS FROM vapor

va·por·a·ble, adjectiveva·por·a·bil·i·ty, nounva·por·er, nounva·por·less, adjective

va·por·like, adjective

Words nearby vapor

Vanzetti, vape, vape pen, Vaphio, vapid, vapor, vapor barrier, vaporescence, vaporetto, vaporific, vaporimeter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for vapor

Warmer oceans and air increase the evaporation of water vapor into the air, fueling a more potent storm.
Slow, meandering hurricanes are often more dangerous—and they’re getting more common|Greta Moran|September 9, 2020|Popular Science
They are heating up so much that their rock turns to vapor as they fall.
Scientists Say: Asteroid, meteor and meteorite|Bethany Brookshire|September 7, 2020|Science News For Students
The platinum generates heat by combusting any methanol vapor that comes in contact with it.
Methanol fuel gives this tiny beetle bot the freedom to roam|Carmen Drahl|August 19, 2020|Science News
They then used vapor deposition to grow nanowires inside these pores made from perovskite, a type of photosensitive compound used in solar cells.
A New Bionic Eye Could Give Robots and the Blind 20/20 Vision|Edd Gent|May 22, 2020|Singularity Hub

Battelle’s system turns a 35-percent solution of hydrogen peroxide into a vapor.
Tackling the novel coronavirus calls for novel ideas|Kathiann Kowalski|May 7, 2020|Science News For Students
As a result, the vapor measurements Mahar obtained are likely the best-case scenario.
Oil Tankers Leaking into Seattle’s Water|Bill Conroy|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Back then there were no vapor cigarettes for you simulate smoking.
'Saved by the Bell' Star Dustin Diamond Doesn't Want to Be a Jerk Anymore|Kevin Fallon|August 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If you plan to take in vapor in such amounts, you have to get juice with a low nicotine content to avoid poisoning yourself.
This Is Your E-Cigarette on Drugs|Daniel Genis|July 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And the business of science, medicine, and faith itself is to restore or at least to prop up hope, that most complex vapor.
The Fake Superbug Cure|Kent Sepkowitz|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The color palette in Batman Begins is something I brought to the party, too—that rusty, sodium-vapor color.
How ‘Transcendence’ Director Wally Pfister Became Christopher Nolan’s Secret Weapon|Andrew Romano|April 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Should the vapor not condense well, the test-tube may be immersed in a glass of cold water.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
He crouched, nerves and muscles tense, controled in spite of the torturous cloud of scalding vapor that pressed close to him.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
An exceedingly few rays of the sun, concentrated by a burning mirror, will convert gold and platina into vapor.
Gospel Philosophy|J. H. Ward
Nor would a planet, covered over for ages with a thick screen of vapor, be a novelty yet in the universe.
Gospel Philosophy|J. H. Ward
He loosed the blankets from his shoulders, and floundering down the slope was lost in the vapor.
The Gold Trail|Harold Bindloss

British Dictionary definitions for vapor

vapor

/ (ˈveɪpə) /

noun

the US spelling of vapour

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for vapor

vapor

[ vā′pər ]

n.

Barely visible or cloudy diffused matter, such as mist, fumes, or smoke, suspended in the air.

The state of a substance that exists below its critical temperature and that may be liquefied by application of sufficient pressure.

The gaseous state of a substance that is liquid or solid under ordinary conditions.

The vaporized form of a medicinal preparation to be administered by inhalation.

A mixture of a vapor and air, as an explosive mixture of gasoline and air burned in an internal-combustion engine.

vapors Exhalations within an organ, especially the stomach, supposed to affect the mental or physical condition. No longer in technical use.

vapors A nervous disorder such as depression or hysteria. No longer in technical use.

Scientific definitions for vapor

vapor

[ vā′pər ]

The gaseous state of a substance that is normally liquid or solid at room temperature, such as water that has evaporated into the air. See more at vapor pressure. See also water vapor.

A faintly visible suspension of fine particles of matter in the air, as mist, fumes, or smoke.

A mixture of fine droplets of a substance and air, as the fuel mixture of an internal-combustion engine.

Other words from vapor

vaporize verb

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