vase

American  

[veys, veyz, vahz] / veɪs, veɪz, vɑz /

noun

1. a vessel, as of glass, porcelain, earthenware, or metal, usually higher than it is wide, used chiefly to hold cut flowers or for decoration.

---

vase British  

/ vɑːz /

noun

1. a vessel used as an ornament or for holding cut flowers

---

Other Word Forms

• vaselike adjective

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.

Example Sentences

Sonny finds himself tripping over his ineptitude and tangled up in conflicting sympathies—he’s almost as anxious as his hostages, whom he treats with an apologetic kindliness, almost like a party crasher who’s broken a vase.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

The video also showed Kim presenting Lukashenko with a large mosaic vase bearing a portrait of the Belarusian, with the North Korean leader appearing to explain that crafting it involved around 30 seashells.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Picking wildflowers and putting them in a vase.

From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026

In another, the artist sits in a rocking chair in a home beside a vase of dead flowers — but her body is transparent.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2026

“Here’s your posy, Mother! Laurie never forgets that,” she said, putting the fresh nosegay in the vase that stood in ‘Marmee’s corner’, and was kept supplied by the affectionate boy.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Related Words

• container
• jar
• pot
• urn