deliquesce

From Latin dēliquēscō, from dē- +‎ liquēscō (“to liquefy”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˌdɛlɪˈkwɛs/, (weak vowel merger) /ˌdɛləˈkwɛs/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌdɛləˈkwɛs/
• Hyphenation: del‧i‧quesce

deliquesce (third-person singular simple present deliquesces, present participle deliquescing, simple past and past participle deliquesced)

1. (intransitive) To melt by absorbing water and disappearing.

   Synonyms: dissolve, liquefy

   • 1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Palace of Green Porcelain”, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 110:

     But I could find no saltpetre; indeed, no nitrates of any kind. Doubtless they had deliquesced ages ago.

   • 1978 November 19, Martin Amis, “A Stoked‐Up 1976”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     The buildings were Victorian ruins; there were never any razor blades; cheap socks deliquesced beneath your feet.

   • 2020 December, Tim Folger, “North America’s most valuable resource is at risk”, in National Geographic Magazine‎^[2]:

     When he tried to extract the liver, which should have been firm and meaty, it deliquesced into a bloody sludge, sliding goopily through his fingers.

   • 2022, Jennifer Egan, “Case Study: No One Got Hurt”, in The Candy House:

     When mystery deliquesced into renewed bitching over the cramped ride, Alfred issued a second moan-bark: longer, louder, and impossible to ignore.

2. (intransitive, physical chemistry) To become liquid by absorbing water from the atmosphere and dissolving in it.

   Some salts will deliquesce when left exposed.

• deliquescence
• deliquescent