Va"por (?), n. [OE. vapour, OF.
vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L.
vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. &?; smoke, &?; to
breathe forth, Lith. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote
fine soot. Cf. Vapid.] [Written also vapour.]
1. (Physics) Any substance in the gaseous,
or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a
liquid or solid.
&fist; The term vapor is sometimes used in a more extended sense,
as identical with gas; and the difference between the two is not so
much one of kind as of degree, the latter being applied to all permanently
elastic fluids except atmospheric air, the former to those elastic fluids
which lose that condition at ordinary temperatures. The atmosphere contains
more or less vapor of water, a portion of which, on a reduction of
temperature, becomes condensed into liquid water in the form of rain or
dew. The vapor of water produced by boiling, especially in its
economic relations, is called steam.
Vapor is any substance in the gaseous condition at
the maximum of density consistent with that condition. This is the strict
and proper meaning of the word vapor.
Nichol.
2. In a loose and popular sense, any visible
diffused substance floating in the atmosphere and impairing its
transparency, as smoke, fog, etc.
The vapour which that fro the earth glood
[glided].
Chaucer.
Fire and hail; snow and vapors; stormy wind
fulfilling his word.
Ps. cxlviii. 8.
3. Wind; flatulence. [Obs.]
Bacon.
4. Something unsubstantial, fleeting, or
transitory; unreal fancy; vain imagination; idle talk; boasting.
For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
James
iv. 14.
5. pl. An old name for hypochondria, or
melancholy; the blues. "A fit of vapors." Pope.
6. (Pharm.) A medicinal agent designed for
administration in the form of inhaled vapor. Brit. Pharm.
Vapor bath. (a) A bath in vapor;
the application of vapor to the body, or part of it, in a close place;
also, the place itself. (b) (Chem.) A small
metallic drying oven, usually of copper, for drying and heating filter
papers, precipitates, etc.; -- called also air bath. A modified form
is provided with a jacket in the outside partition for holding water, or
other volatile liquid, by which the temperature may be limited exactly to
the required degree. -- Vapor burner, a burner
for burning a vaporized hydrocarbon. -- Vapor
density (Chem.), the relative weight of gases and
vapors as compared with some specific standard, usually hydrogen, but
sometimes air. The vapor density of gases and vaporizable substances as
compared with hydrogen, when multiplied by two, or when compared with air
and multiplied by 28.8, gives the molecular weight. -- Vapor
engine, an engine worked by the expansive force of a vapor,
esp. a vapor other than steam.
Va"por, v. i. [imp. & p. p.
Vapored (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Vaporing.]
[From Vapor, n.: cf. L. vaporare.] [Written
also vapour.]
1. To pass off in fumes, or as a moist, floating
substance, whether visible or invisible, to steam; to be exhaled; to
evaporate.
2. To emit vapor or fumes. [R.]
Running waters vapor not so much as standing
waters.
Bacon.
3. To talk idly; to boast or vaunt; to
brag.
Poets used to vapor much after this
manner.
Milton.
We vapor and say, By this time Matthews has beaten
them.
Walpole.
Va"por, v. t. To send off in vapor, or
as if in vapor; as, to vapor away a heated fluid. [Written
also vapour.]
He'd laugh to see one throw his heart away,
Another, sighing, vapor forth his soul.
B.
Jonson.
Va"por (?), n. [OE. vapour, OF.
vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L.
vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. &?; smoke, &?; to
breathe forth, Lith. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote
fine soot. Cf. Vapid.] [Written also vapour.]
1. (Physics) Any substance in the gaseous,
or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a
liquid or solid.
&fist; The term vapor is sometimes used in a more extended sense,
as identical with gas; and the difference between the two is not so
much one of kind as of degree, the latter being applied to all permanently
elastic fluids except atmospheric air, the former to those elastic fluids
which lose that condition at ordinary temperatures. The atmosphere contains
more or less vapor of water, a portion of which, on a reduction of
temperature, becomes condensed into liquid water in the form of rain or
dew. The vapor of water produced by boiling, especially in its
economic relations, is called steam.
Vapor is any substance in the gaseous condition at
the maximum of density consistent with that condition. This is the strict
and proper meaning of the word vapor.
Nichol.
2. In a loose and popular sense, any visible
diffused substance floating in the atmosphere and impairing its
transparency, as smoke, fog, etc.
The vapour which that fro the earth glood
[glided].
Chaucer.
Fire and hail; snow and vapors; stormy wind
fulfilling his word.
Ps. cxlviii. 8.
3. Wind; flatulence. [Obs.]
Bacon.
4. Something unsubstantial, fleeting, or
transitory; unreal fancy; vain imagination; idle talk; boasting.
For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
James
iv. 14.
5. pl. An old name for hypochondria, or
melancholy; the blues. "A fit of vapors." Pope.
6. (Pharm.) A medicinal agent designed for
administration in the form of inhaled vapor. Brit. Pharm.
Vapor bath. (a) A bath in vapor;
the application of vapor to the body, or part of it, in a close place;
also, the place itself. (b) (Chem.) A small
metallic drying oven, usually of copper, for drying and heating filter
papers, precipitates, etc.; -- called also air bath. A modified form
is provided with a jacket in the outside partition for holding water, or
other volatile liquid, by which the temperature may be limited exactly to
the required degree. -- Vapor burner, a burner
for burning a vaporized hydrocarbon. -- Vapor
density (Chem.), the relative weight of gases and
vapors as compared with some specific standard, usually hydrogen, but
sometimes air. The vapor density of gases and vaporizable substances as
compared with hydrogen, when multiplied by two, or when compared with air
and multiplied by 28.8, gives the molecular weight. -- Vapor
engine, an engine worked by the expansive force of a vapor,
esp. a vapor other than steam.
Va"por, v. i. [imp. & p. p.
Vapored (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Vaporing.]
[From Vapor, n.: cf. L. vaporare.] [Written
also vapour.]
1. To pass off in fumes, or as a moist, floating
substance, whether visible or invisible, to steam; to be exhaled; to
evaporate.
2. To emit vapor or fumes. [R.]
Running waters vapor not so much as standing
waters.
Bacon.
3. To talk idly; to boast or vaunt; to
brag.
Poets used to vapor much after this
manner.
Milton.
We vapor and say, By this time Matthews has beaten
them.
Walpole.
Va"por, v. t. To send off in vapor, or
as if in vapor; as, to vapor away a heated fluid. [Written
also vapour.]
He'd laugh to see one throw his heart away,
Another, sighing, vapor forth his soul.
B.
Jonson.
