emulsify
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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emulsifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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emulsified,
past participle, past
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emulsifying
present participle
verb
Usage
What does emulsify mean? To emulsify is to form an emulsion—a mixture of two liquids that don’t fully combine. An emulsion may look like a single liquid, but it’s made up of particles of one liquid distributed throughout another liquid. For example, if you emulsify oil and water, it forms an emulsion in which small droplets of oil are suspended in the water, but the two liquids aren’t fully blended together (as they would be if you stirred together water and vinegar, for example). In technical chemistry terms, an emulsion is a colloidal suspension in which the substances mixed together are both liquids. Both colloids and suspensions involve particles of one substance distributed in another without being dissolved. Emulsions are used in a variety of contexts, including pharmacology, cooking, and photography. In cooking, liquids or liquid-like ingredients are emulsified in order to make sauces with a smooth consistency. A common example of an emulsion is the kind of salad dressings called a vinaigrette, which is made by emulsifying oil and vinegar. Example: To emulsify oil and vinegar, you have to whisk very hard to separate the oil into tiny droplets, or else the two liquids will separate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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emulsibilitynoun
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emulsifiabilitynoun
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emulsificationnoun
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emulsifiernoun
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emulsibleadjective
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emulsifiableadjective
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unemulsifiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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emulsifysimple
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emulsifiessimple
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have emulsifiedperfect
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has emulsifiedperfect
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am emulsifyingprogressive
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are emulsifyingprogressive
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is emulsifyingprogressive
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have been emulsifyingperfect progressive
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has been emulsifyingperfect progressive
Past
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emulsifiedsimple
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had emulsifiedperfect
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was emulsifyingprogressive
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were emulsifyingprogressive
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had been emulsifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of emulsify
First recorded in 1855–60; from Latin ēmuls(us) ( see emulsion) + -ify
Explanation
When you emulsify something, you mix it so thoroughly that it becomes an emulsion, or a mixture of two liquids that can't be completely blended together. Home cooks emulsify any time they make a good oil-based salad dressing, thoroughly mixing the oil with the vinegar or other liquid ingredients. While the oil, because it's not soluble, can't be completely combined with the vinegar, you can emulsify the two so that the tiny drops of oil are dispersed across the volume of vinegar and the texture of the salad dressing is satisfying. Emulsify comes from the Latin word emulsus, or "milked out."
Vocabulary lists containing emulsify
Fast Food Nation
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Lupe Wong Won't Dance
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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.
See Examples For:
The therapy is a diglyceride formulation -- two omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, bound to a glyceride molecule -- which enhances their ability to emulsify into tiny, concentrated particles.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2024
Mustard adds to a vinaigrette in two ways: It adds heat, flavor and dimension, and it helps emulsify or thicken the dressing.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Turn blender on medium low and slowly emulsify the oil into the blender.
From Salon ● May 25, 2023
Butter can be tricky to smoothly emulsify into a sauce; it helps to start with cold butter and shake the skillet back and forth as it melts, rather than stir the butter into the sauce.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2023
Weigh out Chassaing's peptone, 10 grammes, and emulsify it with 200 c.c. distilled water previously heated to 60°C. 2.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by Eyre, J. W. H. (John William Henry)
It blends and emulsifies perfectly — and its flavor is insurmountable.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2022
The mixture will split at first, but keep on whisking until it emulsifies.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2021
Did you know molasses emulsifies the olive oil and keeps the little fat molecules from stumbling into each other, thus allowing the oil and vinegar to mix?
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 6, 2020
If you liked that album, there’s no reason you wouldn’t like this one, which also emulsifies carols and Christmas standards to the consistency of a smoothie.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2016
Combined with the bile, this juice acts upon the large drops of fat which pass from the stomach into the duodenum and emulsifies them.
From A Practical Physiology by Blaisdell, Albert F.
The ice crush preset can turn ice into snow, ready for a snow cone treat, while the stir function is great for emulsified sauces like Caesar dressing.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2024
The team says that result confirmed the hypothesis that VFD processing could be a "green" one-step technique for more stable, emulsified viscous liquids.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 2024
The brick-red butter sauce, emulsified with a splash of the pasta cooking water, coats spaghetti here, but you can use whatever noodles you like.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2023
To get the right flavor, I ground the dry mushrooms into a powder and let it steep quickly, right in the pan, in a little of the reserved pasta water that emulsified with some butter.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 5, 2023
If well emulsified with saliva by the teeth or mixed with water and not gulped down, cottage cheese serves every sort of food purpose.
From The Suffrage Cook Book by Kleber, L. O., Mrs.
Many vinaigrette recipes call for emulsifiers without specifically mentioning their crucial emulsifying role.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2024
Or it may contain additives such as “flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents”.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2020
Therefore, emulsions are usually stabilized by an emulsifying agent, a substance that inhibits the coalescence of the dispersed liquid.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
“Mmm, I like that,” Fain said of the avocado dressing, which is made by emulsifying the brand’s guacamole with red wine vinegar.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2017
Multiples of the loop are prepared by emulsifying 1, 2, 5, or 10 loops each with 1 c.c. sterile bouillon in separate sterile capsules.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by Eyre, J. W. H. (John William Henry)
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.
