subliming

Verb

sublime (third-person singular simple present sublimes, present participle subliming, simple past and past participle sublimed)

1. (transitive) To heat (a substance) in a container so as to convert it into a gas which then condenses in solid form on cooler parts of the container; (generally) to change (a solid substance) into a gas without breaking down or passing through the liquid state by heating it gently.
   • Sub[tle]. […] VVho are you?
     Ana[nias]. A faithfull Brother, if it pleaſe you.
     Sub. VVhat's that?
     A Lullianiſt? a Ripley? Filius artis?
     Can you ſublime, and dulcefie?1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act II, scene v, signature...
2. (archaic, transitive) To obtain or purify (a substance) in this manner.
   • [I]t [niter, or sodium carbonate] Calcineth, Sublimeth and Diſſolveth Minerals and Metals.1670 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), “III. The Natural History of Niter, or, a Philosophical Discourse of the Nature, Generation, Place, and Artificial Extraction of Niter, with Its Vertues and Uses...
3. (broadly, figuratively, transitive) To raise (someone or an intangible thing) to a state of (especially moral or spiritual) excellence; to exalt.
   • Thoſe vvords vvhich doe ſublime the quinteſſence of bliſſe, […]1591, P[hilip] S[idney], “[Sonnet 77]”, in Sir P. S. His Astrophel and Stella […], London: […] [John Danter] for Thomas Newman, →OCLC, page 23

   Synonyms:

   sublimate

4. (obsolete, transitive) To cause (someone or something) to ascend; to raise (someone or something) to a high position.
   • I am ſublim'd! groſſe earth
     Supports me not. I vvalk on ayr!1632 June 4 (date licensed; Gregorian calendar), Phillip [i.e., Philip] Massinger, The City-Madam, a Comedie. […], London: […] Andrew Pennycuicke, […], published 1659, →OCLC, Act III, scene iii, page...
5. (obsolete, transitive) To cause (juice or sap) to rise in a plant.
   • [Camfire, i.e., camphor] ſeemeth plainely to be ſo made by art, being caſt as it vvere or ſublimed into broad round pans or diſhes and little above the thickneſſe of ones thumbe, […]1640, John Parkinson, “Camphora. Camfire.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, →OCLC, page 1575
6. (obsolete, transitive) Especially of the sun: to heat (something) and cause vapours, etc., to rise from it.
   • Some the French VVriters, ſome our ovvn deſpiſe;
     The Ancients only, or the Moderns prize:
     […]
     Meanly they ſeek the Bleſſing to confine,
     And force that Sun but on a Part to Shine;
     VVhich not alone the Southern VVit ſublimes,
     But ripens Spirits in cold Northern Climes; […]1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC, page 24

See all 35 meanings of sublime