deliquesce
English edit
Etymology edit
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)
- (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.
- (intransitive, physical chemistry) To become liquid by absorbing water from the atmosphere and dissolving in it.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
References edit
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “deliquesce”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.