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:
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
On the fireplace mantel is a hot-dog candle, which matches the hot-dog vase in the kitchen, both of which go nicely with her “In My Hot Dog Era” T-shirt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
If somebody gave you a seed, you put it in a vase with fresh dirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 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
There’s a vase filled with camellia branches on the dining room table.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
When Burton 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
Elegant hand-blown glass vases sit beside ceramic crater pots on warm cherry shelves.
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
There were broken chairs, vases of flowers knocked over, and water spilled everywhere.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
