vaporize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to become converted into vapor.
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to indulge in boastful talk; speak braggingly.
verb
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to change or cause to change into vapour or into the gaseous state
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to evaporate or disappear or cause to evaporate or disappear, esp suddenly
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to destroy or be destroyed by being turned into a gas as a result of extreme heat (for example, generated by a nuclear explosion)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has vaporizedperfect 3rd person singular
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have vaporizedperfect
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has been vaporizingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are vaporizingprogressive
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am vaporizingprogressive 1st person singular
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vaporizessingular 3rd person
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is vaporizingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been vaporizingperfect progressive
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vaporizingparticiple
Past
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had vaporizedperfect
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was vaporizingprogressive singular
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vaporizedparticiple
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vaporizedsimple
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had been vaporizingperfect progressive
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were vaporizingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of vaporize
Explanation
To vaporize is to evaporate and turn into gas. If you're watching a sci-fi movie, it probably means to vanish quickly or be utterly obliterated by a phaser gun. As the structure of the word suggests, vaporize means "turn into vapor." Sometimes this means just turning into gas, like when boiling water turns into steam and rises into the atmosphere. Other times, something more concentrated is left behind, like when maple sap is boiled down into syrup. And in the greenhouse (or grocery store produce section), to vaporize is also to spray your green things with a light coating of mist.
Vocabulary lists containing vaporize
Cosmos
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"The Hunger Games," Chapter 2 Vocabulary
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Locomotion
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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.
Inside, a high-powered laser fires bursts of light to flatten and vaporize tiny drops of molten tin.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026
The solvent might vaporize and clog the emitter, so engineers typically design emitters to limit evaporation.
From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2024
As the kettle heats further, chemicals with higher boiling points vaporize and then are condensed and collected.
From Salon • Sep. 14, 2023
The compressed air starts to glow, and when it reaches a temperature of about 2,000 degrees Celsius, the solid material in the meteoroid starts to vaporize.
From Scientific American • Sep. 8, 2023
Maybe you and Dad can try again— Suddenly the door of the utility closet flew open, and the weight on Roy’s chest seemed to vaporize.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
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.
