vanish

verb

van·​ish ˈva-nish How to pronounce vanish (audio)
vanished; vanishing; vanishes

intransitive verb

1
a
: to pass quickly from sight : disappear
b
: to pass completely from existence
2
: to assume the value zero

transitive verb

: to cause to disappear
vanisher noun

Examples of vanish in a Sentence

The missing girl vanished without a trace a year ago. The papers seem to have vanished into thin air. Dinosaurs vanished from the face of the earth millions of years ago.
Recent Examples on the Web The search and how Diehl's theory changes search site The search for the vanishing plane covered more than 2 million square nautical miles and focused on an area off the coast of Australia. Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 8 Mar. 2024 After each win, the matching symbols break into small pieces, vanish, and new symbols take their place. Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024 Read Next National Woman got out of a vehicle in 2022 — and vanished. Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2024 Instead of going extinct, titanosaurs flourished long after their more famous cousins vanished. Kristi Curry Rogers, The Conversation, 7 Mar. 2024 This cometary origin story, with its mix of ancient humans, vanished megafauna and global cataclysm, quickly spread beyond the confines of scientific journals. Zach St. George, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Simmons also announced that three inmates who broke out of jail around the same time the couple vanished and allegedly made their getaway in their yacht have been re-arrested and are cooperating in the case, according to authorities. Emily Palmer, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024 So the skills slowly vanished, the love of crafting faded, another heritage was lost and the crafters grew grayer by the year. John Carlisle, Detroit Free Press, 25 Feb. 2024 That agreement never came to pass, and the hope for a two-state solution has steadily vanished. Shane Bauer, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vanish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English vanisshen, borrowed from Anglo-French vaniss- stem of vanir, envanir, esvanir, going back to Vulgar Latin *exvānīre, restructuring of Latin ēvānēscere "to fade away, disappear," from ē- e- entry 1 + vānēscere "to pass from existence," inchoative verb derivative of vānus "empty, lacking content" — more at wane entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of vanish was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near vanish

Cite this Entry

“Vanish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vanish. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

vanish

verb
van·​ish ˈvan-ish How to pronounce vanish (audio)
: to pass from sight or existence
vanisher noun

More from Merriam-Webster on vanish

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