Vanish Van"ish noun (Phon.) The brief terminal part of 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 .

Vanishing Van"ish·ing adjective & noun from Vanish , v.

Vanishing fraction (Math.) , a fraction which reduces to the form &frac00; for a particular value of the variable which enters it, usually in consequence of the existence of a common factor in both terms of the fraction, which factor becomes 0 for this particular value of the variable. Math. Dict. -- Vanishing line (Persp.) , the intersection of the parallel of any original plane and picture; one of the lines converging to the vanishing point. -- Vanishing point (Persp.) , the point to which all parallel lines in the same plane tend in the representation. Gwilt. -- Vanishing stress (Phon.) , stress of voice upon the closing portion of a syllable. Rush.

Vanishment Van"ish·ment noun A vanishing. [ Obsolete]

Vanity Van"i·ty noun ; plural Vanities . [ Middle English vanite , vanité , Latin vanitas , from vanus empty, vain. See Vain .]

1. The quality or state of being vain; want of substance to satisfy desire; emptiness; unsubstantialness; unrealness; falsity.

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity .

Eccl. i. 2.

Here I may well show the vanity of that which is reported in the story of Walsingham.

Sir J. Davies.

2. An inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations; an excessive desire for notice or approval; pride; ostentation; conceit.

The exquisitely sensitive vanity of Garrick was galled.

Macaulay.

3. That which is vain; anything empty, visionary, unreal, or unsubstantial; fruitless desire or effort; trifling labor productive of no good; empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment.

Vanity of vanities , saith the Preacher.

Eccl. i. 2.

Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the certainty of things to come.

Sir P. Sidney.

[ Sin] with vanity had filled the works of men.

Milton.

Think not, when woman's transient breath is fled,
That all her vanities at once are dead;
Succeeding vanities she still regards.

Pope.

4. One of the established characters in the old moralities and puppet shows. See Morality , noun , 5.

You . . . take vanity the puppet's part.

Shak.

Syn. -- Egotism; pride; emptiness; worthlessness; self- sufficiency. See Egotism , and Pride .

Vanity box Van"i·ty box A small box, usually jeweled or of precious metal and worn on a chain, containing a mirror, powder puff, and other small toilet articles for a woman.

Vanjas Van"jas noun (Zoology) The Australian pied crow shrike ( Strepera graculina ). It is glossy bluish black, with the under tail coverts and the tips and bases of the tail feathers white.

Vanner Van"ner noun (Mining) A machine for concentrating ore. See Frue vanner .

Vanner hawk Van"ner hawk` The kestrel. [ Prov. Eng.]

Vanning Van"ning noun (Mining) A process by which ores are washed on a shovel, or in a vanner.

Vanquish Van"quish transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Vanquished ; present participle & verbal noun Vanquishing .] [ Middle English venquishen , venquissen , venkisen ,F. vaincre , pret. vainquis , Old French veintre , pret. venqui , venquis (cf. an Old French infin. vainquir ), from Latin vincere ; akin to Anglo-Saxon wīg war, battle, wīgant a warrior, wīgan to fight, Icelandic vīg battle, Goth. weihan to fight, contend. Confer Convince , Evict , Invincible , Victor .]

1. To conquer, overcome, or subdue in battle, as an enemy. Hakluyt.

They . . . Vanquished the rebels in all encounters.

Clarendon.

2. Hence, to defeat in any contest; to get the better of; to put down; to refute.

This bold assertion has been fully vanquished in a late reply to the Bishop of Meaux's treatise.

Atterbury.

For e'en though vanquished , he could argue still.

Goldsmith.

Syn. -- To conquer; surmount; overcome; confute; silence. See Conquer .

Vanquish Van"quish noun (Far.) A disease in sheep, in which they pine away. [ Written also vinquish .]

Vanquishable Van"quish·a·ble adjective That may be vanquished.

Vanquisher Van"quish·er noun One who, or that which, vanquishes. Milton.

Vanquishment Van"quish·ment noun The act of vanquishing, or the state of being vanquished. Bp. Hall.

Vansire Van"sire noun [ The native name: confer French vansire .] (Zoology) An ichneumon ( Herpestes galera ) native of Southern Africa and Madagascar. It is reddish brown or dark brown, grizzled with white. Called also vondsira , and marsh ichneumon .

Vant Vant intransitive verb See Vaunt . [ Obsolete]

Vant-courier Vant"-cou`ri·er noun An avant- courier. See Van-courier . [ Obsolete] Holland.

Vantage Van"tage (vȧn"taj; 48) noun [ Aphetic form of Middle English avantage , from French avantage . See Advantage .]

1. superior or more favorable situation or opportunity; gain; profit; advantage. [ R.]

O happy vantage of a kneeling knee!

Shak.

2. (Lawn Tennis) The first point after deuce.

» When the server wins this point, it is called vantage in ; when the receiver, or striker out, wins, it is called vantage out .

To have at vantage , to have the advantage of; to be in a more favorable condition than. "He had them at vantage , being tired and harassed with a long march." Bacon. -- Vantage ground , superiority of state or place; the place or condition which gives one an advantage over another. "The vantage ground of truth. Bacon.

It is these things that give him his actual standing, and it is from this vantage ground that he looks around him.

I. Taylor.

Vantage Van"tage transitive verb To profit; to aid. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Vantage game Van"tage game (Lawn Tennis) The first game after the set is deuce. See Set , noun , 9.

Vantage point Vantage point A point giving advantage; vantage ground.

Vantbrace, Vantbrass Vant"brace, Vant"brass noun [ French avant fore + bras arm: confer French brassard armor for the arm, brace, forearm. Confer Vambrace .] (Anc. Armor) Armor for the arm; vambrace. Milton.

Vanward Van"ward adjective Being on, or towards, the van, or front. "The vanward frontier." De Quincey.

Vap Vap (văp) noun [ See Vapid .] That which is vapid, insipid, or lifeless; especially, the lifeless part of liquor or wine. [ Obsolete]

In vain it is to wash a goblet, if you mean to put into it nothing but the dead lees and vap of wine.

Jer. Taylor.

Vapid Vap"id adjective [ Latin vapidus having lost its lire and spirit, vapid; akin to vappa vapid wine, vapor vapor. See Vapor .] Having lost its life and spirit; dead; spiritless; insipid; flat; dull; unanimated; as, vapid beer; a vapid speech; a vapid state of the blood.

A cheap, bloodless reformation, a guiltless liberty, appear flat and vapid to their taste.

Burke.

-- Vap"id*ly adverb -- Vap"id*ness , noun

Vapidity Va·pid"i·ty noun The quality or state of being vapid; vapidness.

Vapor Va"por noun [ Middle English vapour , Old French vapour , vapor , vapeur , French vapeur , Latin vapor ; probably for cvapor , and akin to Greek ... smoke, ... to breathe forth, Lithuanian kvepti to breathe, smell, Russian kopote fine soot. Confer Vapid .] [ Written also vapour .]

1. (Physics) Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid.

» The term vapor is sometimes used in a more extended sense, as identical with gas ; and the difference between the two is not so much one of kind as of degree, the latter being applied to all permanently elastic fluids except atmospheric air, the former to those elastic fluids which lose that condition at ordinary temperatures. The atmosphere contains more or less vapor of water, a portion of which, on a reduction of temperature, becomes condensed into liquid water in the form of rain or dew. The vapor of water produced by boiling, especially in its economic relations, is called steam .

Vapor is any substance in the gaseous condition at the maximum of density consistent with that condition. This is the strict and proper meaning of the word vapor .

Nichol.

2. In a loose and popular sense, any visible diffused substance floating in the atmosphere and impairing its transparency, as smoke, fog, etc.

The vapour which that fro the earth glood [ glided].

Chaucer.

Fire and hail; snow and vapors ; stormy wind fulfilling his word.

Ps. cxlviii. 8.

3. Wind; flatulence. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

4. Something unsubstantial, fleeting, or transitory; unreal fancy; vain imagination; idle talk; boasting.

For what is your life? It is even a vapor , that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

James iv. 14.

5. plural An old name for hypochondria, or melancholy; the blues. "A fit of vapors ." Pope.

6. (Pharm.) A medicinal agent designed for administration in the form of inhaled vapor. Brit. Pharm.

Vapor bath . (a) A bath in vapor; the application of vapor to the body, or part of it, in a close place; also, the place itself. (b) (Chemistry) A small metallic drying oven, usually of copper, for drying and heating filter papers, precipitates, etc.; -- called also air bath . A modified form is provided with a jacket in the outside partition for holding water, or other volatile liquid, by which the temperature may be limited exactly to the required degree. -- Vapor burner , a burner for burning a vaporized hydrocarbon. -- Vapor density (Chemistry) , the relative weight of gases and vapors as compared with some specific standard, usually hydrogen, but sometimes air. The vapor density of gases and vaporizable substances as compared with hydrogen, when multiplied by two, or when compared with air and multiplied by 28.8, gives the molecular weight. -- Vapor engine , an engine worked by the expansive force of a vapor, esp. a vapor other than steam.

Vapor Va"por intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Vapored ; present participle & verbal noun Vaporing .] [ From Vapor , noun : confer Latin vaporare .] [ Written also vapour .]

1. To pass off in fumes, or as a moist, floating substance, whether visible or invisible, to steam; to be exhaled; to evaporate.

2. To emit vapor or fumes. [ R.]

Running waters vapor not so much as standing waters.

Bacon.

3. To talk idly; to boast or vaunt; to brag.

Poets used to vapor much after this manner.

Milton.

We vapor and say, By this time Matthews has beaten them.

Walpole.

Vapor Va"por transitive verb To send off in vapor, or as if in vapor; as, to vapor away a heated fluid. [ Written also vapour .]

He'd laugh to see one throw his heart away,
Another, sighing, vapor forth his soul.

B. Jonson.

Vapor galvanizing Va"por gal"va·niz`ing (Metal.) A process for coating metal (usually iron or steel) surfaces with zinc by exposing them to the vapor of zinc instead of, as in ordinary galvanizing, to molten zinc; -- called also Sherardizing . Vapor galvanizing is accomplished by heating the articles to be galvanized together with zinc dust in an air tight receptacle to a temperature of about 600° F., which is 188° below the melting point of zinc, or by exposing the articles to vapor from molten zinc in a separate receptacle, using hydrogen or other reducing gas to prevent oxidation.

Vapor pressure, tension Vapor pressure, tension (Physics) The pressure or tension of a confined body of vapor. The pressure of a given saturated vapor is a function of the temperature only, and may be measured by introducing a small quantity of the substance into a barometer and noting the depression of the column of mercury.

Vaporability Vap`o·ra·bil"i·ty noun The quality or state of being vaporable.

Vaporable Vap"o·ra·ble adjective Capable of being converted into vapor by the agency of heat; vaporizable.

Vaporate Vap"o·rate intransitive verb [ Latin vaporare , vaporatum . See Vapor .] To emit vapor; to evaporate. [ R.]

Vaporation Vap`o·ra"tion noun [ Confer French vaporation , Latin vaporatio .] The act or process of converting into vapor, or of passing off in vapor; evaporation. [ R.]

Vapored Va"pored adjective 1. Wet with vapors; moist.

2. Affected with the vapors. See Vapor , noun , 5.

Vaporer Va"por·er noun One who vapors; a braggart.

Vaporer moth . (Zoology) See Orgyia .

Vaporiferous Vap`o·rif"er·ous adjective [ Latin vaporifer ; vapor + ferre to bear.] Conveying or producing vapor.

Vaporific Vap`o·rif"ic adjective [ Latin vapor vapor + facere to make.] (Chemistry) Producing vapor; tending to pass, or to cause to pass, into vapor; thus, volatile fluids are vaporific ; heat is a vaporific agent.

Vaporiform Va·por"i·form adjective Existing in a vaporous form or state; as, steam is a vaporiform substance.

Vaporimeter Vap`o·rim"e·ter noun [ Vapor + - meter .] An instrument for measuring the volume or the tension of any vapor; specifically, an instrument of this sort used as an alcoholometer in testing spirituous liquors.

Vaporing Va"por·ing adjective Talking idly; boasting; vaunting. -- Va"por*ing*ly , adverb

Vaporish Va"por·ish adjective 1. Full of vapors; vaporous.

2. Hypochondriacal; affected by hysterics; splenetic; peevish; humorsome.

Pallas grew vap'rish once and odd.

Pope.

Vaporizable Vap"o·ri`za·ble adjective Capable of being vaporized into vapor.

Vaporization Vap`o·ri·za"tion noun [ Confer French vaporisation .] The act or process of vaporizing, or the state of being converted into vapor; the artificial formation of vapor; specifically, the conversion of water into steam, as in a steam boiler.

Vaporize Vap"o·rize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Vaporized ; present participle & verbal noun Vaporizing .] [ Confer French vaporiser .] To convert into vapor, as by the application of heat, whether naturally or artificially.

Vaporizing surface . (Steam Boilers) See Evaporating surface , under Evaporate , transitive verb

Vaporize Vap"o·rize intransitive verb To pass off in vapor.

Vaporizer Vap"o·ri`zer noun One who, or that which, vaporizes, or converts into vapor.

Vaporose Va"por·ose` adjective Full of vapor; vaporous.

Vaporous Va"por·ous adjective [ Latin vaporosus : confer vaporeux .]

1. Having the form or nature of vapor. Holland.

2. Full of vapors or exhalations. Shak.

The warmer and more vaporous air of the valleys.

Derham.

3. Producing vapors; hence, windy; flatulent. Bacon.

The food which is most vaporous and perspirable is the most easily digested.

Arbuthnot.

4. Unreal; unsubstantial; vain; whimsical.

Such vaporous speculations were inevitable.

Carlyle.

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