vase
Americannoun
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:
Our collective image of a humongous horse on wheels came down from centuries’ worth of artists’ interpretations: A Greek vase from 675 BCE.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 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
Handmade of flexible resin, each vase made in this series is a unique creation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
The snail's pace is intentional: as if carrying a precious Ming vase, the slow, gentle motion reduces stresses on the multi‑billion‑dollar rocket and launch tower.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
As Mamá processed the information, Officer Lopez walked back into the room carrying the vase.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
These mosquitoes breed in stagnant water like pails, vases and flowerpot plates.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
When she took a ceramics class in 2015, she started making vases, animals and decor, often hand-building and carving her unique vessels while watching TV in her living room.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
The couple have had the chance to add some of their own flair to the room in the form of artwork that is mounted on the wall, and a few vases and plants.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 24, 2026
Unassuming from the outside, the shop opens into a huge ark of mortar-crusted brick and ribcage-like beams, with long dining tables displaying shapely vases, pitchers, teacups and plates in shades of apricot, amber and malachite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
Ana and Javier keep flowers in every room of their house, so I take a closer look at a corner of vases.
From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour
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.
