condense
/kən'dens/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb (Transitive):
- To make something more dense or concentrated: To reduce the volume or increase the density of a substance, often by removing parts of it, especially water.
- To change a gas or vapor into a liquid: To cause a substance to undergo condensation, typically by cooling it.
- To express something in fewer words: To make a piece of writing or speech shorter and more concise by removing unnecessary parts.
Verb (Intransitive):
- To become more dense or concentrated: To undergo a process where particles come closer together, increasing density.
- To change from a gas or vapor to a liquid: To undergo the physical process of condensation.
Examples of Usage
Transitive Verb:
- The editor asked me to condense my 20-page report into a two-page summary.
- The cold glass caused the water vapor in the air to condense into droplets.
- This machine condenses the sap into a thick syrup.
Intransitive Verb:
- As the cloud cooled, the moisture began to condense and form rain.
- Over millions of years, the cosmic dust slowly condensed to form stars and planets.
Advanced Usage
- Scientific/Technical Context: In physics and chemistry, "condense" precisely describes the phase transition from gas to liquid.
- In the laboratory, we will condense the vapor back into a liquid for analysis.
- Figurative Use for Ideas or Feelings: Used metaphorically to describe something becoming more intense or focused.
- Years of research and thought condensed into a single, brilliant theory.
- Her grief condensed into a hard, silent resolve.
Variants and Related Words
- Condensation (n): The process of condensing; the liquid formed from a condensed vapor.
- Condensation formed on the windows.
- Condenser (n): A device or apparatus for condensing vapor into liquid.
- The laboratory condenser cooled the steam.
- Condensed (adj): Made denser or more concise.
- Condensed milk is a thick, sweet product.
Synonyms
- Compress: To press or squeeze together to reduce size or volume.
- Concentrate: To increase the strength or density of a substance by removing other elements.
- Abbreviate: To shorten a word or piece of writing.
- Summarize: To give a brief statement of the main points.
Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions
(Note: "Condense" is not commonly used with particles to form standard phrasal verbs. Its meaning is typically expressed directly or with prepositions like "into.") - Condense into: To reduce or transform something into a smaller, denser, or more concise form. - He managed to condense centuries of history into a one-hour lecture.
Related Idioms
(Note: There are no common idioms centered solely on the word "condense." Its use is primarily literal or technical.)
Verb
- compress or concentrate
- Congress condensed the three-year plan into a six-month plan
- develop due to condensation
- All our planets condensed out of the same material
- become more compact or concentrated
- Her feelings condensed
- cause a gas or vapor to change into a liquid
- The cold air condensed the steam
- remove water from
- condense the milk
- make more concise
- condense the contents of a book into a summary
- undergo condensation; change from a gaseous to a liquid state and fall in drops
- water condenses
- The acid distills at a specific temperature