coalesces

Verb

coalesce (third-person singular simple present coalesces, present participle coalescing, simple past and past participle coalesced)

1. To join into a single mass or whole.
   • The droplets coalesced into a puddle.

   Synonyms:

   amalgamate, combine, join, merge, unite, fuse

2. To form from different pieces or elements.
   • The puddle coalesced from the droplets as they ran together.
3. To bond pieces of metal into a continuous whole by liquefying parts of each piece, bringing the liquids into contact, and allowing the combined liquid to solidify.
4. To merge, to intermingle freely.
   • It was not a wise thing to enter a close clique, my good madam, until you had examined both them and yourself, and considered how far you were likely to coalesce.1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 27
5. To convert a null value to a defined value.
   • You can improve the display by coalescing the ID columns. As I note in Chapter 9, the COALESCE expression takes on the value of the first non-null value in a list of values.2018, Allen G. Taylor, SQL For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN