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deliquesce - 3 dictionary results

del⋅i⋅quesce

  [del-i-kwes]
Use deliquesce in a Sentence
–verb (used without object), -quesced, -quesc⋅ing.
1. to become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air, as certain salts.
2. to melt away.
3. Botany. to form many small divisions or branches.
Origin:
1750–60; < L dēliquēscere to become liquid, equiv. to dē- de- + liquēscere; see liquescent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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del·i·quesce   (děl'ĭ-kwěs')   
intr.v.   del·i·quesced, del·i·quesc·ing, del·i·quesc·es
    1. To melt away.
    2. To disappear as if by melting.
    3. To branch out into numerous subdivisions that lack a main axis, as the stem of an elm.
    4. To become fluid or soft on maturing, as certain fungi.
  2. Chemistry To dissolve and become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air.
  3. Botany
    1. To branch out into numerous subdivisions that lack a main axis, as the stem of an elm.
    2. To become fluid or soft on maturing, as certain fungi.

[Latin dēliquēscere : dē-, de- + liquēscere, to melt, inchoative of liquēre, to be liquid.]
del'i·ques'cence n., del'i·ques'cent adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Deliquesce

Del`i*quesce"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Deliquesced; p. pr. & vb. n. Deliquescing.] [L. deliquescere to melt, dissolve; de- + liquescere to become fluid, melt, fr. liquere to be fluid. See Liquid.] (Chem.) To dissolve gradually and become liquid by attracting and absorbing moisture from the air, as certain salts, acids, and alkalies.

In very moist air crystals of strontites deliquesce. --Black.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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