Meanings
present singular third person evaporates · participle present evaporating · participle past evaporated · past evaporated
- ergativeTo transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state.
When an ultrasonic beam is fired at the microcannons, the emulsion evaporates, expanding rapidly into gas. This creates enough force to push the nanobullets out at velocities reaching several metres per second.
2016 February 1, Tom Whipple, “Microcannon firing nanobullets: the future of targeted medicine”, in The Times1 more example
McCoy’s team, including 66 researchers across four continents, found the salt and minerals left behind as water on Bennu, or its larger parent asteroid, evaporated. The minerals include sodium phosphates, carbonates, sulfates, chlorides and fluorides, some of which are necessary to the formation of life.
2025 January 29, Ashley Strickland, “Historic asteroid sample reveals the ‘building blocks of life are in fact extraterrestrial in origin,’ scientists say”, in CNN - transitiveTo expel moisture from (usually by means of artificial heat), leaving the solid portion.
to evaporate apples
- figurativelytransitiveTo give vent to; to dissipate.
[M]y lord of Eſſex choſe to evaporate his thoughts in a Sonnet (being his common vvay) to be ſung before the Queen, […]
c. 1635 (date written), Henry Wotton, “Of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex; and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham: Some Observations by Way of Parallel in the Time of Their Estates of Favour”, in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. Or, A Collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; […], London: […] Thomas Maxey, for R[ichard] Marriot, G[abriel] Bedel, and T[imothy] Garthwait, published 1651, →OCLC, page 8 - figurativelyintransitiveTo disappear; to escape or pass off without effect.
Near-synonym: go up in smoke
4 more examples
To give moderate liberty for griefs to evaporate […] is a safe way.
1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Seditions and Troubles”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLCThe hosts initially looked like they lacked a spring in their step, but fears of further agony evaporated in the seventh minute with a goal of typical Arsenal quality.
2011 March 2, Chris Whyatt, “Arsenal 5 – 0 Leyton Orient”, in BBC SportThat can make A.I. feel like something of a Catch-22 for workers: If the technology succeeds in reshaping the economy, they could lose their jobs. If it fails to live up to the hype, their retirement savings could evaporate.
2026 June 13, Ben Casselman, “Wages Are Falling. Wealth Is Surging. No Wonder Americans Are Unhappy.”, in The New York Times, →ISSNThere won’t be a funeral. You’ll never find my body. […] I’ll just evaporate somewhere, hidden away from all eyes, watching as my body goes back to wherever it once came from, which is the ether.
2026 June 13, Andrew Stafford, quoting Lydia Lunch, “Lydia Lunch: ‘There won’t be a funeral. You’ll never find my body’”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: go up in smoke
- figurativelytransitiveTo cause to disappear or to escape or pass off without effect.
Gay people have belabored on this issue far too long and far too hard to allow the efforts of years to be evaporated through this obscene ruling. Our fights will continue, if not in the courts, then in the legislatures.
1976 April 10, “Now What?”, in Gay Community News, page 4
comparative more evaporate · superlative most evaporate
- obsoleteevaporated
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo disappear; to escape or pass off without effect.
More synonyms by meaning
verblose or cause to lose liquid by vaporization leaving a more concentrated residue
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinēvapōrātus
- Englishevaporate
First attested in 1545, borrowed from Latin ēvapōrātus, the perfect passive participle of ēvapōrō (“to evaporate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). See also Middle English evaporaten (“to draw off humors or "spirits" as "vapor"”) and evaporen (“to draw off bodily fluid, an excess or toxic matter by converting it into "vapor"; to treat (a part of the body) by drawing off toxic matter converted into "vapor"”). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَبَخَّرَ
- تَبَخَّرَ (tabaḵḵara)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Bulgarian изпарявам
- изпарявам (izparjavam)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Catalan evaporar
- evaporar(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Chinese Mandarin 蒸發 /蒸发, 揮發 /挥发
- 蒸發 /蒸发 (zhēngfā)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- 揮發 /挥发 (huīfā)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Czech vypařit se
- vypařit se(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Danish fordampe
- fordampe(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Dutch verdampen
- verdampen(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Finnish haihtua, höyrystyä
- haihtua(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- höyrystyä(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- kuivatato expel moisture from
- esittääto give vent to
- tuulettaato give vent to
- haihtuato disappear
- häipyäto disappear
French évaporer, s'évaporer
- évaporer(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- s'évaporer(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
German verdampfen, verdunsten
- verdampfen(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- verdunsten(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- evaporieren(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- dörrento expel moisture from
- ausdörrento expel moisture from
- verschwindento disappear
- verduftento disappear
Greek εξατμίζω
- εξατμίζω (exatmízo)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Hungarian párolog, elpárolog
- párolog(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- elpárolog(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Indonesian menguap
- menguap(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Italian evaporare
- evaporare(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Japanese 蒸発する, 揮発する
- 蒸発する (jōhatsu suru)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- 揮発する (kihatsu suru)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- 気化する (kika suru)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Māori whakaeto
- whakaeto(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Norwegian Bokmål fordampe, fordunste
- fordampe(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- fordunste(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Polish wyparowywać, wyparować
- wyparowywać(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- wyparować(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- parować(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Portuguese evaporar
- evaporar(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Romanian evapora, se vaporiza
- evapora(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- se vaporiza(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- secato expel moisture from
Russian испаря́ть, испари́ть
- испаря́ть (isparjátʹ)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- испари́ть (isparítʹ)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- испаря́ться (isparjátʹsja)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- испари́ться (isparítʹsja)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Spanish evaporar, evaporarse
- evaporar(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- evaporarse(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Swedish avdunsta, dunsta
- avdunsta(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- dunsta(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- förångas(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- avdunstato expel moisture from
- dunstato disappear
Thai ระเหย
- ระเหย (rá-hə̌əi)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Ukrainian випаро́вувати, ви́парувати
- випаро́вувати (vyparóvuvaty)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- ви́парувати (výparuvaty)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- випаро́вуватися (vyparóvuvatysja)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- ви́паруватися (výparuvatysja)(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Vietnamese bốc hơi, bay hơi
- bốc hơi(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
- bay hơi(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Welsh tawchu
- tawchu(transitive or intransitive) to transition from a liquid state into a gaseous state
Cite this entry
evaporate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evaporate
“evaporate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evaporate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “evaporate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evaporate.
Source: evaporate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.