Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense dissolves, present participle dissolving, past tense, past participle dissolved
1. verb
If a substance dissolves in liquid or if you dissolve it, it becomes mixed with the liquid and disappears.
Heat gently until the sugar dissolves. [VERB]
Dissolve the salt in a little boiled water. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: melt, break down, disintegrate, soften More Synonyms of dissolve
2. verb
When an organization or institution is dissolved, it is officially ended or broken up.
The committee has been dissolved. [beVERB-ed]
The King agreed to dissolve the present commission. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: end, dismiss, suspend, axe [informal] More Synonyms of dissolve
3. verb
When a parliament is dissolved, it is formally ended, so that elections for a new parliament can be held.
The present assembly will be dissolved on April 30th. [beVERB-ed]
Kaifu threatened to dissolve the Parliament and call an election. [VERB noun]
4. verb [usually passive]
When a marriage or business arrangement is dissolved, it is officially ended.
The marriage was dissolved in 1976. [beVERB-ed]
5. verb
If something such as a problem or feeling dissolves or is dissolved, it becomes weaker and disappears.
His new-found optimism dissolved. [VERB]
Lenny still could not dissolve the nagging lump of tension in his chest. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: disappear, fade, vanish, break down More Synonyms of dissolve
Phrasal verbs:
See dissolve into
dissolve in British English
(dɪˈzɒlv)
verb
1.
to go or cause to go into solution
salt dissolves in water
water dissolves sugar
2.
to become or cause to become liquid; melt
3.
to disintegrate or disperse
4.
to come or bring to an end
5.
to dismiss (a meeting, parliament, etc) or (of a meeting, etc) to be dismissed
6.
to collapse or cause to collapse emotionally
to dissolve into tears
7.
to lose or cause to lose distinctness or clarity
8. (transitive)
to terminate legally, as a marriage, etc
9. (intransitive) cinema, television
to fade out one scene and replace with another to make two scenes merge imperceptibly (fast dissolve) or slowly overlap (slow dissolve) over a period of about three or four seconds
noun
10. cinema, television
a scene filmed or televised by dissolving
Derived forms
dissolvable (disˈsolvable)
adjective
dissolvability (disˌsolvaˈbility) or dissolvableness (disˈsolvableness)
noun
dissolver (disˈsolver)
noun
Word origin
C14: from Latin dissolvere to make loose, from dis-1 + solvere to release
dissolve in American English
(dɪˈzɑlv; dɪˈzɔlv)
verb transitive, verb intransitiveWord forms: disˈsolved or disˈsolving
1.
to make or become liquid; liquefy; melt
2.
to merge with a liquid; pass or make pass into solution
3.
to break up; disunite; decompose; disintegrate
4.
to end by or as by breaking up; terminate
5.
to disappear or make disappear
6. Cinema and Television
to combine or be combined in a lap dissolve
noun US, Cinema, Television
7.
lap dissolve
SIMILAR WORDS: adˈjourn, melt
Idioms:
dissolve in tears
Derived forms
dissolvable (disˈsolvable)
adjective
dissolver (disˈsolver)
noun
Word origin
ME dissolven < L dissolvere, to loosen < dis-, apart + solvere, to loosen: see solve
Examples of 'dissolve' in a sentence
dissolve
Turn up the heat and let it bubble until the sugar has dissolved.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Place on a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.
The Sun (2016)
An increasing amount of research is showing that road salt doesn’t just dissolve into thin air.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
The marriage was dissolved around the same time that Presley got divorced.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There's not enough time for a sugar lump to dissolve in an espresso.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
When the sugar has dissolved and the butter melted, bring to the boil and boil for 1 minute.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Without written agreement you may need to dissolve the partnership.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Use a spoon to slowly turn the mixture until the sugar has dissolved.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Then the marriage will be dissolved by the person who received the notice.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
This was removed with a solvent suspended in a gel that gently dissolved the old varnish.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
More female civil partnerships were dissolved last year than male.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Stir slowly until the butter has melted and sugar dissolved.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Stir over the heat until the salt has dissolved.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Stir in the sugar and heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Place on the heat and stir until the salt has dissolved.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Heat gently to dissolve the sugar in the lime juice.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Bring the stock to the boil in a large casserole dish and dissolve the stock cubes in it.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Some dissolved in tears at the sight of him amid a welcome usually reserved only for rock stars.
The Sun (2008)
But the man with the fearsome reputation dissolved into tears when he learned his best friend had committed suicide.
The Sun (2012)
You need something that dissolves completely.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Add the rinsed and drained chickpeas, as well as the dissolved stock cube.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
But as his marriage dissolved, his career flourished.
The Sun (2016)
A couple in a civil partnership can dissolve their union but not divorce.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The partnership dissolved soon afterwards.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The scene dissolves, or explodes in slow motion, with the actors spilling and twisting out across the stage.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
In other languages
dissolve
British English: dissolve /dɪˈzɒlv/ VERB
If a substance dissolves in liquid, or if you dissolve a substance, it mixes with the liquid, becoming weaker until it finally disappears.
Heat until the sugar dissolves.
Dissolve the salt in boiled water.
American English: dissolve
Arabic: يُذيبُ
Brazilian Portuguese: dissolver
Chinese: 溶解
Croatian: rastopiti
Czech: rozpustit (se)
Danish: opløse
Dutch: oplossen solutie
European Spanish: disolver
Finnish: liuottaa
French: dissoudre
German: auflösen
Greek: διαλύω
Italian: sciogliere
Japanese: 溶かす
Korean: (...을) 녹이다
Norwegian: oppløse
Polish: rozłożyć
European Portuguese: dissolver
Romanian: a dizolva
Russian: растворять
Latin American Spanish: disolver
Swedish: upplösa
Thai: ละลาย
Turkish: erimek
Ukrainian: розчиняти
Vietnamese: hòa tan
All related terms of 'dissolve'
dissolve into
If you dissolve into or dissolve in tears or laughter , you begin to cry or laugh , because you cannot control yourself.
fast dissolve
a transition that fades out one scene and replaces it with another, merging the two scenes imperceptibly
lap dissolve
the technique of allowing the end of one scene to overlap the beginning of the next scene by fading out the former while fading in the latter
slow dissolve
a transition that fades out one scene and replaces it with another over a period of about three of four seconds
dissolve in tears
weep
Chinese translation of 'dissolve'
dissolve
(dɪˈzɔlv)
vt
(in liquid) 溶解 (róngjiě)
to be dissolved[organization, marriage]终(終)结(結) (zhōngjié) [parliament]被解散 (bèi jiěsàn)
vi
[material]溶解 (róngjiě)
to dissolve in(to) tears/laughter情不自禁地流泪(淚)/大笑起来(來) (qíng bù zì jīn de liúlèi/dàxiào qǐlái)
1 (verb)
Definition
to become or cause to become liquid
Heat gently until the sugar dissolves.
Synonyms
melt
The snow had melted.
break down
disintegrate
soften
Soften the butter mixture in a small saucepan.
thaw
The snow hasn't had a chance to thaw.
flux
liquefy
Heat the jam until it liquefies.
deliquesce
2 (verb)
Definition
to formally end
The King agreed to dissolve the present commission.
Synonyms
end
Talks have resumed to try to end the fighting.
dismiss
Two more witnesses were called, heard and dismissed.
suspend
axe (informal)
Community projects are being axed by the government.
break up
The crowd broke up reluctantly.
wind up
overthrow
terminate
Her next remark abruptly terminated the conversation.
discontinue
Do not discontinue the treatment without consulting your doctor.
dismantle
opposition to the president's policy of dismantling apartheid
disband
All the armed groups will be disbanded.
disunite
3 (verb)
His new-found optimism dissolved.
Synonyms
disappear
The immediate threat has disappeared.
fade
After that all her worries faded away.
vanish
The aircraft vanished without trace.
break down
crumble
Under the pressure, the flint crumbled into fragments.
The chalk cliffs are crumbling.
disperse
The fog dispersed and I became aware of the sun.
dwindle
The factory's workforce has dwindled.
evaporate
Moisture is drawn to the surface of the fabric so that it evaporates.
disintegrate
perish
The rubber lining had perished.
diffuse
Our aim is to diffuse new ideas obtained from elsewhere.
dissipate
The tension in the room had dissipated.
decompose
melt away
waste away
The plants are just wasting away in this heat.
evanesce
phrasal verb
See dissolve into or in something
Additional synonyms
in the sense of axe
Definition
to dismiss (employees), restrict (expenditure), or terminate (a project)
Community projects are being axed by the government.
Synonyms
abandon,
end,
pull,
eliminate,
cancel,
scrap,
wind up,
turn off (informal),
relegate,
cut back,
terminate,
dispense with,
discontinue,
pull the plug on
in the sense of break up
Definition
to separate or cause to separate
The crowd broke up reluctantly.
Synonyms
scatter,
separate,
divide,
dissolve
in the sense of crumble
Definition
to fall apart or decay
Under the pressure, the flint crumbled into fragments.The chalk cliffs are crumbling.