Meaning & use
immerse
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To put something completely under the surface of a liquid.
Grammar: Takes an object, often followed by in: immerse the cloth in water.
Patterns
- immerse something in something
Immerse the vegetables in cold water for ten minutes.
The nurse immersed the thermometer in the solution.
He immersed his hands in the warm basin.
verbtransitivefigurative
To involve yourself or someone else so deeply in an activity or setting that little else gets attention.
Grammar: Often reflexive and followed by in: immerse yourself in a book.
Patterns
- immerse yourself in something
- be immersed in something
She immersed herself in her studies before the exam.
Living abroad immersed him in the local culture.
The students were immersed in the language for a month.
Word forms
| third person singular | immerses |
|---|---|
| past tense | immersed |
| past participle | immersed |
| -ing form | immersing |
Common combinations
- immerse yourself in
- I like to immerse myself in a novel on holiday.
- fully immersed
- The children were fully immersed in the game.
- immerse in water
- Immerse the cloth in water overnight.
- immerse in a culture
- Study abroad lets students immerse themselves in a culture.
- immersed in thought
- He sat immersed in thought and did not hear the bell.
Synonyms and how they differ
- submerge
- Submerge is mainly physical, putting something fully underwater, and less often used about interests.
- dip
- Dip means to put in briefly and partly, while immerse means fully and often for longer.
- absorb
- Absorb, in the passive, means very interested; it lacks the sense of being surrounded.
- plunge
- Plunge is faster and more sudden than immerse.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: immerse or immigrate? immerse or emerge?
immerse vs immigrate
Immigrate means to move permanently to another country; it is not related to immerse despite the similar start.
immerse vs emerge
Emerge means to come out, the opposite direction to immerse.
Practice
Which preposition usually follows immerse yourself?
Choose one answer.
We immerse ourselves in something, such as a book or a culture.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “immerse”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.