vanish
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to disappear suddenly and completely so that you cannot see it anymore.
v.to pass out of sight, especially quickly; to cease to exist or be present.
Simple“The magician made the rabbit vanish into thin air.”
In context“As the sun rose higher, the morning mist began to vanish from the valley floor, revealing the small village below.”
UsageIntransitive; does not take a direct object.
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to become equal to zero.
v.to take the value of zero; used of a function, polynomial, or variable.
Simple“The equation shows that the value will vanish when x equals five.”
In context“The derivative of the function must vanish at any local maximum or minimum point on the curve.”
UsageUsed in formal mathematical proofs and descriptions.
Synonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
v.to make someone disappear, often by force or for political reasons.
v.to cause someone to disappear, typically by kidnapping or extrajudicial detention for political purposes.
Simple“During the war, many activists were vanished by the secret police.”
In context“Human rights organisations reported that the regime had vanished dozens of journalists during the recent protests.”
UsageTransitive; takes a direct object.
- 04 C1 Advanced
n.a magic trick where an object seems to disappear.
n.a performance or illusion in which an object or person is made to appear to disappear.
Simple“The audience gasped when the magician performed a perfect coin vanish.”
In context“The stage magician spent years perfecting his signature vanish, ensuring the assistant was hidden before the curtain dropped.”
UsageCountable noun.
Synonyms
“Two of them will later vanish without a trace.”
“When the researchers made a plume vanish while a fly was outside it, the insect kept heading back to where the edge should have been.”
Aphetic for obsolete evanish, from Middle English vanyshen, evaneschen, from Old French esvanir, esvaniss- (modern French évanouir), from Vulgar Latin *exvanire (“to vanish, disappear, to fade out”), from Latin evanescere, from vanus (“empty”). Doublet of evanesce. Displaced native Old English cwincan, whose causative persists as quench (“put out (fire)”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.