vapor
a visible exhalation, such as fog, mist, steam, smoke, or noxious gas, diffused through or suspended in the air: The vapors rising from the bogs smelled muddy.
Physics. a gas at a temperature below its critical temperature.
a substance converted into a gaseous state for technical or medicinal uses.
a combination of gaseous particles of a substance and air.
vapors, Archaic.
harmful exhalations formerly supposed to be produced within the body, especially in the stomach.
mental or physical illness, such as depression or hypochondria, formerly supposed to result from such exhalations, especially in women.
the vapors. Often Facetious. a feeling of being overwhelmed with strong emotion: That guy gives the press the vapors every time he announces a new project.
Archaic.
a strange, senseless, or fantastic notion.
something insubstantial or transitory.
to cause to rise or pass off in, or as if in, vapor; vaporize.
Archaic. to affect with the vapors; depress.
to rise or pass off in the form of vapor.
to emit vapor or exhalations.
to talk or act grandiloquently, pompously, or boastfully; bluster.
Origin of vapor
1- Also especially British, va·pour .
Other words from vapor
- va·por·a·ble, adjective
- va·por·a·bil·i·ty [vey-per-uh-bil-i-tee], /ˌveɪ pər əˈbɪl ɪ ti/, noun
- va·por·er, noun
- va·por·less, adjective
- va·por·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use vapor in a sentence
In a few minutes the airship was over the Athabasca River again, which was now vaporless and white beneath them.
On the Edge of the Arctic | Harry Lincoln SaylerOverhead and far down to the horizon, on every side the stars shone and sparkled through the vaporless skies.
Foes in Ambush | Charles KingLittle puffs of blue vaporless steam hissed from the safety-valve.
Caleb West, Master Diver | F. Hopkinson Smith
British Dictionary definitions for vapor
/ (ˈveɪpə) /
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
Scientific definitions for 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.
usage For vapor
Other words from vapor
- vaporize verb
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse