deliquesce

English

Etymology

Latin deliquescere, from de- +‎ liquēscere (“to liquefy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛlɪˈkwɛs/

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Verb

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, →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:

     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.

Related terms

• deliquescence
• deliquescent

Translations

References