Examples
noun, verb (used with or without object) Chiefly British vapor .Show More
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. Show More
to cause to rise or pass off in, or as if in, vapor; vaporize . Archaic to affect with vapors; depress. Show More
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. Show More
Also especially British va·pour .
Origin of vapor 1325–75; Middle English vapour < Latin vapor steam
Related forms va·por·a·ble , adjective va·por·a·bil·i·ty , 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. 2018
Examples from the Web for vapour Historical Examples of vapour The cloud, you mean--a dim, ill-defined, dark body of vapour ?
The vapour arising from the wet cloth will raise the pile of the velvet, with the assistance of a whisk gently passed over it.
It is like a wavering ghost moving in the vapour on the face of the deep.
But no answers were heard; the vapour did not conduct sound.
In parts indeed he could not tell which was hair and which was black storm and vapour .
British Dictionary definitions for vapour particles of moisture or other substance suspended in air and visible as clouds, smoke, etc a gaseous substance at a temperature below its critical temperature Compare gas (def. 3) a substance that is in a gaseous state at a temperature below its boiling point rare something fanciful that lacks substance or permanence the vapours archaic a depressed mental condition believed originally to be the result of vaporous exhalations from the stomach Show More
to evaporate or cause to evaporate; vaporize (intr) to make vain empty boasts; brag Show More
Derived Forms vapourable or US vaporable , adjective vapourability or US vaporability , noun vapourer or US vaporer , noun vapourish or US vaporish , adjective vapourless or US vaporless , adjective vapour-like or US vapor-like , adjective vapoury or US vapory , adjective Word Origin for vapour C14: from Latin vapor
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 vapour n. 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.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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. Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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. Show More
Related forms vaporize verb The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
