vaporization
Americannoun
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the act of vaporizing.
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the state of being vaporized.
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the rapid change of water into steam, especially in a boiler.
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Medicine/Medical. a vapor therapy.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vaporization
Explanation
When a liquid changes form into a gas, the process is called vaporization. You can watch vaporization when you boil a pot of water. Vaporization happens in two ways: evaporation and boiling. Evaporation occurs when sunlight shines on water until it changes to vapor and rises into the air. Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid—the steam that comes out of a boiling kettle is actually visible water vapor. Vaporization can be traced back to the Latin vaporem. "a warm exhalation" or "steam."
Vocabulary lists containing vaporization
Chemistry - Introductory
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Chemistry - High School
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Chemistry - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This rapid vaporization triggers a phenomenon known as a "micro-explosion," which helps break up the fuel into finer particles.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2026
His apocalypse prediction was delivered sans despair or even humor but, rather, in a casual “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” tone of someone who’s way past the freaking out stage of accepting imminent vaporization.
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2023
This dovetailed with ASASSN-21qj’s long dimming, which, in a giant-impact scenario, would demand a dust cloud from the near-total vaporization of two similarly hefty worlds.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 25, 2023
Around 20 other belt-bound objects seen shedding mass — possibly because of comet-like periodic ice vaporization, wild spinning or recent impacts by asteroids — are considered candidates to be comets.
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
“Bring three men,” he ordered, “and take Mr. Marx into a bedroom. Give him a good soma vaporization and then put him to bed and leave him.”
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
