dissolve
Syllables: dis·solve/dɪˈzɒlv/US/dɪˈzɑlv/
dissolve verb: to terminate a union of multiple members actively, as by disbanding.
Verb
dissolve (third-person singular simple present dissolves, present participle dissolving, simple past and past participle dissolved)
- To terminate a union of multiple members actively, as by disbanding.
- The ruling party or coalition sometimes dissolves parliament early when the polls are favorable, hoping to reconvene with a larger majority.
- To destroy, make disappear.
- To liquify, melt into a fluid.
- as if the world were all dissolved to tears1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
- To be melted, changed into a fluid.
- To disintegrate chemically into a solution by immersion into a liquid or other material.
- There was a legend that Cleopatra was accustomed to dissolve pearls in vinegar and drink the fluid in order to promote her amorousness.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 65
- To be disintegrated by such immersion.
- To disperse, drive apart a group of persons.
- Nothing can dissolve us.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- To break the continuity of; to disconnect; to loosen; to undo; to separate.
- Down fell the duke, his joints dissolved asunder.1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield...
- For one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another.1776, The Declaration of Independence
- To annul; to rescind; to discharge or release.
- to dissolve an injunction
- Jon Snow is the legitimate heir to the Targaryen line, by the old rules, of the old government, which was dissolved and reshaped by King Robert.2017 August 13, Brandon Nowalk, “Oldtown offers one last game-changing secret as Game Of Thrones goes behind enemy lines (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club
- To shift from one shot to another by having the former fade out as the latter fades in.
- Synonyms:
- fade out
- To resolve itself as by dissolution.
- To solve; to clear up; to resolve.
- dissolved the mystery1842, Alfred Tennyson, “A Dream of Fair Women”, in Poems. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
- Make interpretations and dissolve doubts.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 5:16
- To relax by pleasure; to make powerless.
- Seraph and Cherub, careleſs of their charge, / And wanton, in full eaſe now live at large: / Unguarded leave the paſſes of the Sky; / And all diſſolv'd in Hallelujahs lye.1674 (date written), John Dryden, “The Authors Apology for Heroique Poetry; and Poetique Licence”, in The State of Innocence, and Fall of Man: An Opera. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry...
- To separate a ligature into its component letters.
Noun
dissolve (plural dissolves)
- a form of film punctuation in which there is a gradual transition from one scene to the next
- While most of the film is done in medium and long shots (connected with dissolves and wipes which lend a lovely period effect)1986 April 19, Michael Bronski, “Two Views on Desert Hearts: Sexy? or simply Slow?”, in Gay Community News, page 9
- Synonyms:
- fade out
dissolve meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
dissolve in Hindi
- intransitive: to be disintegrated into a solution by immersion
- घुलना ghulnā
- transitive: to terminate a union of multiple members actively
- घोलना gholnā
dissolve in Tamil
- intransitive: to be disintegrated into a solution by immersion
- கரை karai
- transitive: to disintegrate into a solution by immersion
- கரை karai
dissolve in Urdu
- to dissolve
- گھولنا gholnā, توڑنا tornā
dissolve in Bengali
- দ্রবীভূত করা
More languagesFewer languages
- dissolve in Malayalam
- ലയിക്കുക layikkuka
- dissolve in Kannada
- ಕರಗು, ವಿಲೀನವಾಗು, ನೀರಾಗು, ಕಾಣೆಯಾಗು
- dissolve in Gujarati
- વિસર્જન કરવા માટે, વિસર્જન કરવું, વિસર્જન કરવા
- dissolve in Odia
- ଦ୍ରବୀଭୂତ କରିବା, ଦ୍ରବୀଭୂତ କରିବାକୁ
- dissolve in Sanskrit
- विलीयते vilīyate, जीर्यति jī́ryati, भञ्ज् bhañj
- dissolve in Nepali
- विघटन गर्ने, विघटन गर्न
- dissolve in Malay
- bubar, larut
- dissolve in Thai
- ละลาย lá-laai, ยุบ yúp
- dissolve in Vietnamese
- hoà tan, hòa tan
Examples of dissolve in a sentence
- The remarkable flower bouquet lasts for hours until it dissolves into a sweet vanilla smell.
- The despotic king dissolved the parliament, and took personal control of the country.
- Bases dissolve skin oils and have a soapy feel to them.
Synonyms of dissolve
Antonyms
Forms of dissolve
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | dissolves |
| present participle | dissolving |
| past participle | dissolved |
| past | dissolved |
| Noun | |
| plural | dissolves |
Origin of dissolve
Recorded since c. 1374 (displacing Old English toliesan) as Middle English dissolven, from Latin dissolvere (“to loosen up, break apart”) but with the sense from Anglo-Norman dissoldre (variant of Old French dissoudre), itself from dis- (“apart”) + solvere (“to loose, loosen”). By surface analysis, dis- + solve.
Words formed from dissolve
Words that rhyme with dissolve
- resolve
- evolve
- involve
- absolve
- devolve
- revolve
- solve
- convolve
- circumvolve
- intervolve
- unsolve
- coevolve
16 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about dissolve
- What does dissolve mean?
- Dissolve means to terminate a union of multiple members actively, as by disbanding.
- What is dissolve in Hindi?
- Dissolve in Hindi is घुलना (ghulnā), घोलना (gholnā). See Dissolve meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is dissolve?
- Dissolve can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce dissolve?
- Dissolve is pronounced /dɪˈzɒlv/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of dissolve?
- The past tense of dissolve is dissolved.
Words near dissolve in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dissolve (page history and authors); توڑنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); dissolve (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ലയിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); dissolve (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dissolve (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dissolve (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); जीर्यति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); dissolve (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dissolve.wav.
Cite this entry: “dissolve.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dissolve. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.