evaporation

noun

evap·​o·​ra·​tion i-ˌva-pə-ˈrā-shən 

: the act or process of evaporating:

a

: change from a liquid to a vapor

evaporation of water

But warming increases the evaporation of ocean water, which could increase the snowfall on the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, remove water from the ocean, and lower sea level.

—Jack M. Hollander

b

: the vanishing or disappearance of something

The pope's attempt to arrest the evaporation of the Christian tradition in Europe was also unsuccessful.

—Conrad Black

No longer a machine that accelerates the evaporation of resources, in the Roman context the banquet becomes a theatre of wealth and property, of social distinction, or social-climbing.

—James N. Davidson

Examples of evaporation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That's when small amounts of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are continuously added to tanks in order to counteract natural evaporation. —Miles Doran, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026

Although the water cycle is commonly understood as a surface process involving evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, geologic evidence shows that water is also exchanged between Earth’s surface and interior through subduction and volcanic activity. —Divya Dubey, Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026

Water will also need to be added from time to time to replace losses from evaporation or leaks. —Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 27 Mar. 2026

But Newman had a hunch that when soil dries up, the antibiotics bacteria use to wage war might become more potent, simply because of evaporation. —Jonathan Lambert, NPR, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for evaporation

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration

Kids Definition

evaporation

noun

evap·​o·​ra·​tion

i-ˌvap-ə-ˈrā-shən

: the process of evaporating

Medical Definition

evaporation

noun

evap·​o·​ra·​tion i-ˌvap-ə-ˈrā-shən 

: the change by which any substance is converted from a liquid state into and carried off in vapor

specifically : the conversion of a liquid into vapor in order to remove it wholly or partly from a liquid of higher boiling point or from solids dissolved in or mixed with it

evaporate

i-ˈvap-ə-ˌrāt 

verb

evaporated; evaporating

evaporator

-ˌrāt-ər 

noun