liquefy

liquefy
liquefy, melt, deliquesce, fuse, thaw are comparable when they mean to convert or to become converted to a liquid state.
Liquefy, the general term, is applicable not only to solids but also to gases
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liquefy oxygen and nitrogen

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liquefy a solid mass of ice

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jellies liquefy if exposed to the air in a warm room

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Melt basically implies slow liquefaction, usually through heat; the term commonly suggests a softening, a loss of shape, and a running consistency
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butter melts in a warm room

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melt wax in a candle flame

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In its frequent extended use melt is applied to masses that are gradually dispersed or grow thinner or more tenuous and finally disappear
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mountains beyond mountains melting away into remote sky— Binyon

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or to persons or their emotions or reactions that grow softer, gentler, or more tender
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one whose subdued eyes, albeit unused to the melting mood, drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees their medicinal gum— Shak.

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in Romeo and Juliet the profounder dramatist shows his lovers melting into unconsciousness of their isolated selves— T. S. Eliot

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I cannot look up to your face. You melt my strength— Lowell

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or to tones, colors, and sounds that have a liquid quality and merge imperceptibly with others
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snow-light cadences melting to silence— Keats

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substance and shadow melted into each other and into the vastness of space— Glasgow

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Deliquesce implies a disappearing by or as if by melting away and applies especially to gradual liquefying through exposure to the air and the absorption of moisture from it
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hygroscopic salts that deliquesce in moist air

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or to plant structures (as mushrooms) that liquefy in their decay
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a great display of specimens [of fungi] that presently dried up or deliquesced and stank— H. G. Wells

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In its extended use deliquesce stresses loss of coherence rather than disappearance
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Flaubert's instincts were less epical than lyrical, and drama itself was deliquescing into indeterminate forms— Levin

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their lives tended to deliquesce into a murmuring indefiniteness of language— Matthiessen

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Fuse (see also MIX) may sometimes replace liquefy or melt
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thunderstorm had fused the electric mains— Finlay

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but more often it stresses union (as of two or more metals into an alloy) by or as if by the action of intense heat
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foundries which fuse zinc and copper into hard, bright brass— Newsweek

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In its extended use, too, fuse stresses union
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a ship, itself a little community in which people of various backgrounds are temporarily fusedFelix Morley

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the strata fused together by heat— Livingstone

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Thaw may specifically replace melt in reference to something (as ice or snow) that is frozen or in extended use to something (as a cold heart, a cold disposition, or extreme reserve) equally stiff or rigid
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the midday sun has thawed the ice on the roads

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a lady . . . whose very looks would thaw a man more frozen than the Alps— Shirley

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a native reserve being thawed by this genial consciousness— Hawthorne

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New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.

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  • Liquefy — Liq ue*fy (l[i^]k w[ e]*f[imac]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Liquefied} ( f[imac]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Liquefying} ( f[imac] [i^]ng).] [F. liqu[ e]fier, L. liquere to be liquid + facere, ficare (in comp.), to make. See {Liquid}, and { fy}.] 1. To… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • liquefy — (v.) early 15c., from O.Fr. liquefier liquefy, dissolve, from L. liquefacere make liquid, melt, from liquere be fluid (see LIQUID (Cf. liquid) (adj.)) + facere to make (see FACTITIOUS (Cf. factitious)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Liquefy — Liq ue*fy, v. i. To become liquid. [WordNet sense 2] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • liquefy — meaning ‘to make liquid’, is spelt efy, not ify. Its inflected forms are liquefies, liquefied, liquefying …   Modern English usage

  • liquefy — [v] melt deliquesce, dissolve, thaw; concepts 250,255 …   New thesaurus

  • liquefy — (also liquify) ► VERB (liquifies, liquified) ▪ make or become liquid. DERIVATIVES liquefaction noun liquefactive adjective liquefiable adjective liquefier noun. ORIGIN Latin …   English terms dictionary

  • liquefy — [lik′wi fī΄] vt., vi. liquefied, liquefying [Fr liquefier < L liquefacere: see LIQUID & FY] to make or become liquid SYN. MELT liquefiable adj. liquefier n …   English World dictionary

  • liquefy — UK [ˈlɪkwɪfaɪ] / US [ˈlɪkwəˌfaɪ] verb [intransitive/transitive] Word forms liquefy : present tense I/you/we/they liquefy he/she/it liquefies present participle liquefying past tense liquefied past participle liquefied to become a liquid, or to… …   English dictionary

  • liquefy — [[t]lɪ̱kwɪfaɪ[/t]] liquefies, liquefying, liquefied V ERG When a gas or solid substance liquefies or is liquefied, it changes its form and becomes liquid. Heat the jam until it liquefies... [V n] You can liquefy the carbon dioxide to separate it… …   English dictionary

  • liquefy — verb (I, T) formal to become liquid, or make something become liquid: Some gases liquefy at cold temperatures …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

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