Meaning & use
evaporation
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Meanings
noununcountablephysics
The process in which a liquid turns into vapor, usually at its surface, without having to boil.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: the evaporation of water, not an evaporation.
Patterns
- evaporation of something
- evaporation from something
Evaporation from the ocean supplies moisture to clouds.
Covering the pot reduces evaporation.
The puddle vanished through evaporation within an hour.
noununcountablefigurative
A gradual disappearance or fading away of something, such as support, trust or money.
Grammar: Figurative use, usually followed by of.
Patterns
- evaporation of support
- evaporation of confidence
The evaporation of public trust left the company in crisis.
Economists feared the evaporation of savings during the crash.
The evaporation of her enthusiasm was obvious to everyone.
Common combinations
- rate of evaporation
- Wind increases the rate of evaporation.
- prevent evaporation
- A lid helps prevent evaporation from the pool.
- evaporation and condensation
- The water cycle depends on evaporation and condensation.
- loss through evaporation
- Lakes in dry regions suffer major loss through evaporation.
- evaporation pond
- Salt was harvested from a shallow evaporation pond.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vaporization
- Vaporization is the broader technical term for any change from liquid to gas, including boiling, while evaporation happens at the surface.
- boiling
- Boiling happens throughout the liquid at a set temperature, but evaporation can occur at any temperature.
- disappearance
- Disappearance is general, whereas evaporation suggests something fading gradually.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: evaporation or vaporization?
evaporation vs vaporization
Vaporization includes all conversion of liquid to gas, while evaporation specifically happens at the surface without boiling.
Practice
Why does a wet towel dry in the sun even though the water never boils?
Choose one answer.
Evaporation changes water into vapor at the surface below boiling point. Condensation is the opposite process, and freezing and melting involve ice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “evaporation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.