Library / English Dictionary

DISAPPEAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become less intense and fade away gradually

Example:

her hopes evaporated after years of waiting for her fiance

Synonyms:

disappear; evaporate; melt

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "disappear" is one way to...):

weaken (become weaker)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get lost, as without warning or explanation

Example:

He disappeared without a trace

Synonyms:

disappear; go away; vanish

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disappear"):

fall away; fall off (diminish in size or intensity)

fall (go as if by falling)

die (disappear or come to an end)

go (be abolished or discarded)

absent; remove (go away or leave)

blow over; evanesce; fade; fleet; pass; pass off (disappear gradually)

fade; wither (lose freshness, vigor, or vitality)

skip town; take a powder (disappear without notifying anyone (idiom))

die off; die out (become extinct)

desorb (go away from the surface to which (a substance) is adsorbed)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue disappear

These cars won't disappear

Antonym:

appear (come into sight or view)

Derivation:

disappearance; disappearing (the act of leaving secretly or without explanation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cease to exist

Example:

An entire civilization vanished

Synonyms:

disappear; vanish

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "disappear" is one way to...):

cease; end; finish; stop; terminate (have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Antonym:

appear (come into being or existence, or appear on the scene)

Derivation:

disappearance (gradually ceasing to be visible)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become invisible or unnoticeable

Example:

The effect vanished when day broke

Synonyms:

disappear; go away; vanish

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "disappear" is one way to...):

cease; end; finish; stop; terminate (have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disappear"):

dematerialise; dematerialize (become immaterial; disappear)

clear (go away or disappear)

bob under (disappear suddenly, as if under the surface of a body of water)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The moon will soon disappear

Derivation:

disappearance (gradually ceasing to be visible)

disappearance (the event of passing out of sight)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“Yes, sir,” was the meek reply, as the offending head disappeared into the galley.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But if she die in truth, then all cease; the tiny wounds of the throats disappear, and they go back to their plays unknowing ever of what has been.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The moon had disappeared from the night, and again, with a lessened form, showed itself, while I still remained in the forest.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The metabolic disturbances improve or completely disappear after the complete resection of the tumor.

(Phosphaturic Mesenchymal Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

The symptoms often disappear within a few weeks.

(Optic neuritis, NCI Dictionary)

His wretched physical condition explained why he lingered; and when he had recuperated, after several days' sojourn, he disappeared.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Even if symptoms disappear, you might need therapy to prevent a relapse.

(Leukemia, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

Treatment that is given to help keep cancer from coming back after it has disappeared following the initial therapy.

(Maintenance therapy, NCI Dictionary)

Earth's surface falls locally when it is weighed down with water and rebounds when the weight disappears.

(Sierras Lost Water Weight, Grew Taller During Drought, NASA)

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory later observed that the source - known as an ultraluminous X-ray source, or ULX - had disappeared just as quickly.

(NASA Satellite Spots a Mystery That's Gone in a Flash, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)