deliquesce

American  

[del-i-kwes] / ˌdɛl ɪˈkwɛs /

verb (used without object)

deliquesced, deliquescing

1. to become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air, as certain salts.

2. to melt away.

3. Botany. to form many small divisions or branches.

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deliquesce British  

/ ˌdɛlɪˈkwɛs /

verb

1. (esp of certain salts) to dissolve gradually in water absorbed from the air

2. (esp of certain fungi) to dissolve into liquid, usually at maturity

3. (of a plant stem) to form many branches

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Etymology

Origin of deliquesce

First recorded in 1750–60; from Latin dēliquēscere “to become liquid,” equivalent to dē- de- + liquēscere; liquescent

Example Sentences

Shivaree, chthonian, erumpent, tintinnabulation, exonumia, requiescat, deipnosophist, omphaloskepsis, horripilation, deliquesce, apopemptic.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2021

Then, surprise: a secret chamber filled with the yolk of a hard-boiled egg, bright yellow and just starting to deliquesce.

From New York Times • Jul. 19, 2012

The home-schooled whiz was such a wreck, she asked to wait offstage between spelling such words as deliquesce and sufflaminate.

From Time Magazine Archive

I have, however, since, from the same materials, produced the salt above-mentioned in a state not subject to deliquesce or evaporate.

From Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air by Priestley, Joseph

And all the substances which this acid unites with crystallize, and do not deliquesce.

From Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry by Priestley, Joseph