vapor

[ vey-per ]

/ ˈveɪ pər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vapor 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.

Nearby words

Also especially British, va·pour.

Origin of vapor

1325–75; Middle English vapour < Latin vapor steam

Related forms

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

va·por·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for vapor

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
We feel the pull between life as painful reality—and forgotten wisps of vapor.
10 Best Plays of the Year: Richard III, No Man’s Land, and More|Janice Kaplan|December 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST

On the balcony of the chamber, I came across Ilona Orshansky, the owner of Williamsburg's Vapor Lounge New York.
New York’s Nanny-State E-Cig Ban|Olivia Nuzzi|December 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When thrown into vapor of mercury, boron phospho-di-iodide instantly takes fire.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 841, February 13, 1892|Various
The glasses of our spectacles, as they came in contact with the air expired, were covered with vapor.
Fasting Girls|William Alexander Hammond
The sun raises enormous quantities of water in the form of vapor, which forms clouds and descends in rain.
Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 1 [June 1902]|Various
This vapor seemed to adhere together until it stood near the head, rounded and nearly reaching the ceiling.
The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul|Jirah D. Buck
It is an alley in some great city, and there is a gloom of evening and vapor over the sky.
Imaginations and Reveries|(A.E.) George William Russell

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

Word Origin and History for vapor

vapor

late 14c., from Anglo-French vapour, from Latin vaporem (nominative vapor) "exhalation, steam, heat," of unknown origin. Vapors "fit of fainting, hysteria, etc." is 1660s, from medieval notion of "exhalations" from the stomach or other organs affecting the brain.

Medicine 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.

Science 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.

Related formsvaporize verb

vapor

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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vapor

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vapor

vapor

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