Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To make more dense or compact.
  • intransitive verb To concentrate (a substance), especially by removing water.
  • intransitive verb To make more concise; abridge or shorten.
  • intransitive verb To cause (a gas or vapor) to change to a liquid.
  • intransitive verb To become more dense or compact.
  • intransitive verb To undergo condensation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Close in texture or composition; compact; dense.
  • To make more dense or compact; reduce the volume or compass of; bring into closer union of parts; consolidate; compress: used both literally and figuratively.
  • In chem. and physical, to reduce to another and denser form, as a gas or vapor to the condition of a liquid or of a solid, as by pressure or abstraction of heat.
  • Synonyms To concentrate, contract, crowd together, inspissate; to abridge, shorten, reduce, epitomize, abbreviate; to solidify.
  • To become denser or more compact, as the particles of a body; become liquid or solid, as a gas or vapor.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To become more compact; to be reduced into a denser form.
  • intransitive verb To combine or unite (as two chemical substances) with or without separation of some unimportant side products.
  • intransitive verb To undergo polymerization.
  • adjective rare Condensed; compact; dense.
  • transitive verb To make more close, compact, or dense; to compress or concentrate into a smaller compass; to consolidate; to abridge; to epitomize.
  • transitive verb (Chem. & Physics) To reduce into another and denser form, as by cold or pressure.
  • transitive verb milk reduced to the consistence of very thick cream by evaporation (usually with addition of sugar) for preservation and transportation.
  • transitive verb a steam engine in which the steam is condensed after having exerted its force on the piston.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To decrease size or volume by concentration toward the essence.
  • verb intransitive, chemistry To transform from a gaseous state into a liquid state via condensation.
  • adjective archaic Condensed; compact; dense.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb undergo condensation; change from a gaseous to a liquid state and fall in drops
  • verb remove water from
  • verb cause a gas or vapor to change into a liquid
  • verb make more concise
  • verb become more compact or concentrated
  • verb develop due to condensation
  • verb compress or concentrate

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English condensen, from Old French condenser, from Latin condēnsāre : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + dēnsāre, to thicken (from dēnsus, thick).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin condensare.

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Examples

  • How do small grains of dust which condense from the nebula gas manifest into planet-sized-objects that contain an inventory of so many different elements and materials?

    SETI Institute: Life at the SETI Institute: Paul Estrada -- From Dust to Planets SETI Institute 2010

  • BUT if, after a seeming Tendency to Rain, there follow several Days of fine Weather, it is a certain Indication that the Temper of the Air is altered, and that these Vapours had been driven off before they had time to condense, which is confirmed by the Change of the Wind on such

    The Shepherd of Banbury's Rules to Judge of the Changes of the Weather, Grounded on Forty Years' Experience John Claridge

  • So what this does is kind of condense the calendar.

    CNN Transcript Jun 2, 2007 2007

  • And this is exactly the purpose for the great amount of repetition in the Bible and is the reason why it is so evil for someone like Reader's Digest to "condense" the Scriptures by removing the supposedly unnecessary and boring repetition.

    Myths About the King James Bible by David Cloud There Are No Doctrinal Differences Between Bible Texts and Versions 1986

  • A large collection of bosons at high temperatures will occupy many different energy states, but at a temperature close to absolute zero, all of the particles will "condense" into the lowest-energy state available.

    SEEDMAGAZINE.COM 2010

  • A large collection of bosons at high temperatures will occupy many different energy states, but at a temperature close to absolute zero, all of the particles will "condense" into the lowest-energy state available.

    SEEDMAGAZINE.COM 2010

  • She won't see the quarks and gluons directly, but will watch the process as they "condense" into more familiar protons neutrons. detectors will hunt for the Higgs.

    Discover Blogs 2010

  • Viz - 4-5 players 'condense' or close on the back 4 and midfielders, hoping to force an error, the back line pushing up with them, or else this leaves room between the lines...

    The Guardian World News David James 2010

  • A large collection of bosons at high temperatures will occupy many different energy states, but at a temperature close to absolute zero, all of the particles will "condense" into the lowest-energy state available.

    SEEDMAGAZINE.COM 2010

  • The IRS also said it would allow businesses to "condense" data—or reduce the detail—for years not under audit.

    Small Businesses Fight IRS Over Data Laura Saunders 2011

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