Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Vanish

Van′ish

(văn′ĭsh)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Vanished
(văn′ĭsht)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Vanishing
.]
[OE.
vanissen
, OF.
vanir
(in comp.): cf. OF.
envanir
,
esvanir
,
esvanuïr
, F.
s’évanouir
; fr. L.
vanus
empty, vain; cf. L.
vanescere
,
evanescere
, to vanish. See
Vain
, and cf.
Evanescent
,
-ish
.]
1.
To pass from a visible to an invisible state; to go out of sight; to disappear; to fade;
as, vapor
vanishes
from the sight by being dissipated; a ship
vanishes
from the sight of spectators on land
.
The horse
vanished
. . . out of sight.
Chaucer.
Go;
vanish
into air; away!
Shakespeare
The champions
vanished
from their posts with the speed of lightning.
Sir W. Scott.
Gliding from the twilight past to
vanish
among realities.
Hawthorne.
2.
To be annihilated or lost; to pass away.
“All these delights will vanish.”
Milton.

Van′ish

(văn′ĭsh)
,
Noun.
(Phon.)
The brief terminal part of a vowel or vocal element, differing more or less in quality from the main part;
as,
a
as in
ale
ordinarily ends with a
vanish
of
i
as in
ill
,
o
as in
old
with a vanish of
oo
as in
foot
.
Rush.
☞ The vanish is included by Mr. Bell under the general term glide.

Webster 1828 Edition


Vanish

VAN'ISH

,
Verb.
I.
[L. vanesco, vanus, vain, or its root; Eng. to wane. The primary sense is to withdraw or depart.
1.
To disappear; to pass from a visible to an invisible state; as, vapor vanishes from the sight by being dissipated. Light vanishes, when the rays of the illuminating body are intercepted; darkness vanishes before the rising sun.
2.
To disappear; to pass beyond the limit of vision; as, a ship vanishes from the sight of spectators on land.
3.
To disappear; to pass away; to be annihilated or lost. How cheering is the well founded hope of enjoying delights which can never vanish!

Definition 2024


vanish

vanish

English

Verb

vanish (third-person singular simple present vanishes, present participle vanishing, simple past and past participle vanished)

  1. To become invisible or to move out of view unnoticed.
    • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, The Bat, chapterI:
      The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.
  2. (mathematics) To become equal to zero.
    The function f(x)=x2vanishes at x=0.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

vanish (plural vanishes)

  1. (phonetics) The brief terminal part of a vowel or vocal element, differing more or less in quality from the main part.
    a as in ale ordinarily ends with a vanish of i as in ill.
    o as in old ordinarily ends with a vanish of oo as in foot.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Rush to this entry?)
  2. A magic trick in which something seems to disappear.
    The French drop is a well-known vanish involving sleight of hand.

See also