vase
Americannoun
-
vases
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of vase
1555–65; < French < Latin vās vessel
Explanation
The tall container you put flowers in is a vase. Thanks for the enormous bouquet of daisies — I'll need to find a large enough vase to fit them in! A vase is a glass or ceramic container that serves only a decorative function — in other words, you're unlikely to serve a guest a big glass of lemonade in a vase. Vases are generally tall and narrow, to accommodate flower stems. Some vases are curvy and others are straight. In North America, vase usually rhymes with "face," which was its original English pronunciation, though modern British speakers say it so it rhymes with "blahs" instead.
Vocabulary lists containing vase
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.
See Examples For:
He’s just gotten into the art world with a $35,000 antique vase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
She’s a perfectionist at heart, something I remember with a sigh when I help her hang a picture or center a vase of flowers on her table.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
"I can't lay my eyes on my favourite place at home, on some elements of my house, a vase, a view from my window," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
He tweaked the images, removing plastic gloves and flipping objects like a vase sideways to make for a more engaging composition.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
Daoud turned and elbowed the vase of flowers off the countertop.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Downstairs is a small, cinderblock-enclosed ceramics studio where Herman builds his oversize vessels, starting on a wheel and then hand-building the rest of the vases before firing them in his own kiln.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
These mosquitoes breed in stagnant water like pails, vases and flowerpot plates.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Classical Body,” which pairs Attic vases and flasks with a series of fluted Grecian gowns elevated above—super-model goddesses in pale gold—sets the aspirational yet unforgiving female physical ideal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
Glass vases with metallic finishes of unnatural blue, green and gold are drowned in palm leaf motifs, ready to be flowered.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
Her solitary breakfast did not taste good, and the room seemed lonely and untidy, for Jo had not filled the vases, Beth had not dusted, and Amy’s books lay scattered about.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
