dissolve

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dissolve

  • /dɪˈzɒlv/ UK
  • /dɪˈzɑlv/ US
  • /dɪˈzɔlv/ US

Rhymes with -ɒlv

Where it comes from

Recorded since c. 1374 (displacing Old English toliesan) as Middle English dissolven, from Latin dissolvere (“to loosen up, break apart”) but with the sense from Anglo-Norman dissoldre (variant of Old French dissoudre), itself from dis- (“apart”) + solvere (“to loose, loosen”). By surface analysis, dis- + solve.

verb dissolves · dissolving · dissolved

  1. transitive To terminate a union of multiple members actively, as by disbanding. The ruling party or coalition sometimes dissolves parliament early when the polls are favorable, hoping to reconvene with a larger majority.
  2. transitive To destroy, make disappear.
  3. transitive To liquify, melt into a fluid. as if the world were all dissolved to tears
  4. intransitive To be melted, changed into a fluid.
  5. physical, transitive To disintegrate chemically into a solution by immersion into a liquid or other material. There was a legend that Cleopatra was accustomed to dissolve pearls in vinegar and drink the fluid in order to promote her amorousness.
  6. intransitive, physical To be disintegrated by such immersion.
  7. transitive To disperse, drive apart a group of persons. Nothing can dissolve us.
  8. transitive To break the continuity of; to disconnect; to loosen; to undo; to separate. Down fell the duke, his joints dissolved asunder.
  9. transitive To annul; to rescind; to discharge or release. to dissolve an injunction
  10. intransitive To shift from one shot to another by having the former fade out as the latter fades in.
  11. intransitive To resolve itself as by dissolution.
  12. obsolete To solve; to clear up; to resolve. dissolved the mystery
  13. To relax by pleasure; to make powerless. Seraph and Cherub, careleſs of their charge, / And wanton, in full eaſe now live at large: / Unguarded leave the paſſes of the Sky; / And all diſſolv'd in Hallelujahs lye.
  14. To separate a ligature into its component letters.

noun dissolves

  1. a form of film punctuation in which there is a gradual transition from one scene to the next While most of the film is done in medium and long shots (connected with dissolves and wipes which lend a lovely period effect)

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