vaporize

especially British, va·por·ise

[vey-puh-rahyz]

verb (used with object)

vaporized, vaporizing 

1. to cause to change into vapor.

verb (used without object)

vaporized, vaporizing 

1. to become converted into vapor.

2. to indulge in boastful talk; speak braggingly.

vaporize

/ ˈveɪpəˌraɪz /

verb

1. to change or cause to change into vapour or into the gaseous state

2. to evaporate or disappear or cause to evaporate or disappear, esp suddenly

3. to destroy or be destroyed by being turned into a gas as a result of extreme heat (for example, generated by a nuclear explosion)

Other Word Forms

• vaporizable adjective
• revaporize verb
• unvaporized adjective
• vaporization noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of vaporize¹

First recorded in 1625–35; vapor + -ize

Example Sentences

That last promise vaporized early on, after Volodymyr Zelensky stormed out of the White House following an Oval Office ambush in February.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As the ice keeps vaporizing, it gradually slides downhill, carving a long, deep trench with ridges on either side.

Read more on Science Daily

Airbus and Boeing, the two biggest aircraft manufacturers, have acknowledged that malfunctions can lead to oil and hydraulic fluid leaking into the engines or power units and vaporizing at extreme heat.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

After Sinner won Wimbledon, it wasn’t hard to find murmuring that the 24-year-old Italian might be making a separation, that his sudden mastery of the grass vaporized Alcaraz’s last edge.

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“There’s a certain undertone of ‘good riddance’ when kooks like these are vaporized by the earth’s latest ill-mannered guests.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• annihilate 
• atomize 
• destroy 
• exterminate 
• kill