Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense vanishes, present participle vanishing, past tense, past participle vanished
1. verb
If someone or something vanishes, they disappear suddenly or in a way that cannot be explained.
He just vanished and was never seen again. [VERB]
The aircraft vanished without trace. [VERB]
Anne vanished from outside her home last Wednesday. [VERB + from]
The gunmen paused only to cut the wires to the house, then vanished into the countryside. [VERB + into]
Synonyms: disappear, become invisible, be lost to sight, dissolve More Synonyms of vanish
2. verb
If something such as a species of animal or a tradition vanishes, it stops existing.
Near the end of Devonian times, thirty percent of all animal life vanished. [VERB]
He does not think that craftsmanship has vanished from our world. [VERB + from]
More Synonyms of vanish
vanish in British English
(ˈvænɪʃ)
verb(intransitive)
1.
to disappear, esp suddenly or mysteriously
2.
to cease to exist; fade away
3. mathematics
to become zero
noun
4. phonetics rare
the second and weaker of the two vowels in a falling diphthong
Derived forms
vanisher (ˈvanisher)
noun
vanishingly (ˈvanishingly)
adverb
Word origin
C14: vanissen, from Old French esvanir, from Latin ēvānēscere to evaporate, from ē-ex-1 + vānēscere to pass away, from vānus empty
vanish in American English
(ˈvænɪʃ)
verb intransitive
1.
to go or pass suddenly from sight; disappear
2.
to cease to exist; come to an end
3. Ancient Mathematics
to become zero
noun
4. Phonetics
the faint last part of any of certain diphthongs, as the sound like a faint ( (i) ) ending the diphthong in boy
SYNONYMY NOTE: vanish implies a sudden, complete, often mysterious passing from sight or existence [the stain had vanished overnight]; disappear, a more general term, implies either a sudden or gradual passing from sight or existence[customs that have long since disappeared]; fade suggests a gradual, complete or partial disappearance, as by losing color or brilliance[the design on this fabric won't fade, his fame has faded]
OPPOSITES: appear, emerge
Derived forms
vanisher (ˈvanisher)
noun
Word origin
ME vanissen, aphetic < prp. stem of OFr esvanir < VL *exvanire, for L evanescere: see evanesce
Examples of 'vanish' in a sentence
vanish
The moth had vanished by this point.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In March this year he was released from jail then vanished again.
The Sun (2016)
They have almost all vanished again by December, and no one knows where they have gone.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Sun in 1991 was free, but then vanished again.
The Sun (2016)
But by the time British police got a European arrest warrant he had vanished again.
The Sun (2016)
These masses have not vanished without a trace.
Marius, Richard A Short Guide to Writing About History (1995)
This was another case of three points vanishing.
The Sun (2013)
The prospective business partners suddenly vanished without trace.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
But there was no sign of technical problems before the aircraft vanished from screens.
The Sun (2015)
We all wondered how she could have vanished into thin air.
The Sun (2008)
This behaviour will not simply vanish by being placed in a new environment.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The result has been a programme of increasingly spectacular vanishing acts.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Trade unions do and they are disappearing to vanishing point for their trouble.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
She caught glimpses of it three times and managed to take this picture before it vanished again.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The application has since vanished without trace.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The reason we have perspective with a vanishing point is that it came from optics.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Suddenly he has vanished from the magazine covers.
The Sun (2008)
They rise slowly upwards before vanishing into thin air as mysteriously as they first appeared.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It stood in front of me for a few seconds and then vanished.
The Sun (2010)
They just did not like the idea of dying and simply vanishing.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It is now 260 days since the aircraft vanished.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The first, the leaden echo, asks how beauty can be kept from vanishing away.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The blokes do, at least, have the decency to vanish at the end of each show.
The Sun (2014)
In other languages
vanish
British English: vanish /ˈvænɪʃ/ VERB
If someone or something vanishes, they disappear suddenly or cease to exist altogether.
The missing woman vanished from her home last Wednesday.
American English: vanish
Arabic: يَخْتَفِي
Brazilian Portuguese: desaparecer
Chinese: 消失
Croatian: nestati
Czech: zmizet
Danish: forsvinde
Dutch: verdwijnen
European Spanish: disiparse
Finnish: kadota
French: disparaître
German: verschwinden
Greek: εξαφανίζομαι
Italian: scomparire
Japanese: 消える
Korean: 사라지다
Norwegian: forsvinne
Polish: zniknąć
European Portuguese: desaparecer
Romanian: a dispărea
Russian: исчезать
Latin American Spanish: disiparse
Swedish: försvinna
Thai: หายไปอย่างรวดเร็ว
Turkish: yok olmak
Ukrainian: зникати
Vietnamese: tan biến
Chinese translation of 'vanish'
vanish
(ˈvænɪʃ)
vi
[person, aircraft]消失 (xiāoshī)
(= cease to exist)[tradition, system, species]灭(滅)绝(絕) (mièjué)
1 (verb)
Definition
to disappear suddenly
The aircraft vanished without trace.
Synonyms
disappear
The car drove off and disappeared from sight.
become invisible
be lost to sight
dissolve
His new-found optimism dissolved.
evaporate
Moisture is drawn to the surface of the fabric so that it evaporates.
fade away
melt away
disappear from sight
exit
evanesce (formal)
Opposites
appear
,
materialize
,
come into view
,
arrive
,
pop up
,
become visible
2 (verb)
Definition
to cease to exist
Dinosaurs vanished from the earth millions of years ago.
Synonyms
die out
We used to believe that capitalism would soon die out.
disappear
The immediate threat has disappeared.
pass away
end
fade
After that all her worries faded away.
dwindle
The factory's workforce has dwindled.
cease to exist
become extinct
disappear from the face of the earth
exit
Additional synonyms
in the sense of dissolve
His new-found optimism dissolved.
Synonyms
disappear,
fade,
vanish,
break down,
crumble,
disperse,
dwindle,
evaporate,
disintegrate,
perish,
diffuse,
dissipate,
decompose,
melt away,
waste away,
evanesce
in the sense of dwindle
Definition
to grow less in size, strength, or number
The factory's workforce has dwindled.
Synonyms
lessen,
fall,
decline,
contract,
sink,
fade,
weaken,
shrink,
diminish,
decrease,
decay,
wither,
wane,
subside,
ebb,
die down,
die out,
abate,
shrivel,
peter out,
die away,
waste away,
taper off,
grow less
in the sense of evanesce
Definition
to fade gradually from sight
Synonyms
vanish,
clear,
disappear,
fade,
melt,
dissolve,
disperse,
evaporate,
vanish off the face of the earth
Synonyms of 'vanish'
vanish
Explore 'vanish' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of evaporate
Definition
to change from a liquid or solid to a vapour
Moisture is drawn to the surface of the fabric so that it evaporates.