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vanish

v.
C1 Advanced Oxford US //ˈvænɪʃ// UK //vˈænɪʃ// van·ish

v. to disappear suddenly and completely. You use this when something goes away so fast that you cannot see where it went.

v. to disappear suddenly or completely from sight; to cease to exist. Intransitive — does not take a direct object.


SIMPLE

The magician made the rabbit vanish into thin air.

CONTEXTUAL

The morning mist began to vanish as soon as the sun rose over the hills.

COMPLEX

In the mathematical context of a function, a value is said to vanish when it becomes zero, effectively removing its influence from the equation.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

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)”).

Usage

The verb is intransitive and cannot be used in the passive voice.

Pitfall

The keys were vanishedThe keys vanishedVanish is an intransitive verb and cannot be used in the passive voice.

Idioms1 entry

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