deliquesce

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Latin deliquescere, from de- +‎ liquēscere (to liquefy).[1]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

deliquesce (third-person singular simple present deliquesces, present participle deliquescing, simple past and past participle deliquesced)

  1. (intransitive) To melt and disappear.
    • 1895 May 7, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter VIII, in The Time Machine: An Invention, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC:
      [] But I could find no saltpeter; indeed no nitrates of any kind. Doubtless they had deliquesced ages ago.
    • 1978 November 19, Martin Amis, “A Stoked‐Up 1976”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      The buildings were Victorian ruins; there were never any razor blade; cheap socks deliquesced beneath your feet.
    • 2020 December, Tim Folger, “North America’s most valuable resource is at risk”, in National Geographic Magazine[2]:
      When he tried to extract the liver, which should have been firm and meaty, it deliquesced into a bloody sludge, sliding goopily through his fingers.
    • 2022, Jennifer Egan, “Case Study: No One Got Hurt”, in The Candy House:
      When mystery deliquesced into renewed bitching over the cramped ride, Alfred issued a second moan-bark: longer, louder, and impossible to ignore.
  2. (intransitive, physical chemistry) To become liquid by absorbing water from the atmosphere and dissolving in it.
[edit]

Translations

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “deliquesce”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.