vanish

verb

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van·ish | \ ˈva-nish

vanished; vanishing; vanishes

Definition of vanish

intransitive verb

1a : to pass quickly from sight : disappear

b : to pass completely from existence

2 : to assume the value zero

transitive verb

: to cause to disappear

Other Words from vanish Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More About vanish

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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 Conferences, which made up a $15 billion market pre-pandemic, seemed like one of the things that might vanish or at least diminish, undone by the shift to virtual. — Arielle Pardes, Wired, 1 Oct. 2021 The company began testing tweets that vanish after 24 hours last March in Brazil. — NBC News, 14 July 2021 The realities that made 2020 among the very worst years in American history will not vanish with 2021’s first dawn. — New York Times, 30 Dec. 2020 But one wishes its story content had enough edge and ballast not to vanish from the memory quite so easily afterward. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 2 Oct. 2021 So even as San Francisco International Airport prepares to open the final boarding gates of its $2.4 billion Harvey Milk Terminal 1, officials were quick to say that the dust clouds and detours aren’t likely to vanish any time soon. — John King, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 May 2021 The burden of walking in the heat that crumpled their faces seems to vanish, lost to toothy smiles and wide, shining eyes. — Megan Taros, The Arizona Republic, 4 Sep. 2021 As walls come down, Isabel’s savings begin to vanish in a cloud of plaster dust. — Washington Post, 3 Sep. 2021 Will we be plunged into the guts of the Dirty War—the process by which Argentinian dissidents and other undesirables were murdered or made to vanish? — Anthony Lan, The New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vanish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for vanish

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