Meaning & use
vapor
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A gas formed from a liquid or solid, especially when it is normally liquid or solid at room temperature.
Grammar: Use as a countable noun when referring to a specific type or cloud of vapor; use as uncountable when referring to the substance in general.
Patterns
- water vapor
- vapor from something
- turn into vapor
When you boil water, you can see vapor rising from the pot.
The cold air turned the breath into visible vapor.
Gasoline gives off dangerous vapors that can catch fire.
nouncountable or uncountable
A misty cloud of tiny drops or particles floating in the air, often seen as steam or fog.
Grammar: Often used in the plural (vapors) to refer to a visible cloud or haze.
Patterns
- clouds of vapor
- vapors rising
- thick vapor
Vapors from the hot spring rose into the cold morning air.
The valley was covered in a thin vapor at dawn.
He breathed in the vapors from the medicine to clear his nose.
noununcountablefigurativeliterary
A feeling or mood that is not real or lasting; something imagined or without substance.
Grammar: Used figuratively, often in the phrase 'vapor and smoke' or 'vapors of something'.
Patterns
- vapors of something
- vapor and smoke
His promises turned out to be mere vapor and disappeared quickly.
The idea was just a vapor of hope that soon faded.
Word forms
| plural | vapors |
|---|
Common combinations
- water vapor
- Water vapor in the air can make a room feel humid.
- chemical vapors
- Workers must wear masks when chemical vapors are present.
- vapor pressure
- Vapor pressure measures how easily a liquid turns into gas.
- turn into vapor
- When heated, the solid turns into vapor without melting.
- vapors rise
- Vapors rise from the hot pavement after a summer rain.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gas
- Gas is the general word for any substance in the gaseous state; vapor often suggests a gas that comes from a liquid or solid and may condense back.
- steam
- Steam is the specific vapor formed when water boils; vapor can refer to any liquid or solid turned to gas.
- mist
- Mist is a cloud of tiny liquid droplets floating in the air; vapor is the gas itself, which may be invisible.
Word family
- vaporize verb
- To change a liquid or solid into vapor, or to be changed in this way.
- vaporization noun
- The process of changing into vapor.
- vaporous adjective
- Having the nature of vapor; misty or unsubstantial.
- vaporizer noun
- A device that turns a liquid into vapor, often for medical or recreational use.
Commonly confused: vapor or vapour?
vapor vs vapour
Vapour is the British spelling of the same word; use vapor in American English and vapour in British English.
Practice
When water boils, it turns into ______.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun that names the gas formed from boiling water. 'Vapor' (uncountable here) fits. 'Vapors' is plural and would suggest multiple types or clouds; 'vaporize' is a verb; 'vaporous' is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vapor”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.