Definition

1. Adjective:
   • In a liquid state after having been solid: Describes a substance, typically a solid, that has been mixed into a liquid until it has become part of the liquid solution and is no longer visible as separate particles.
   • Disintegrated or disappeared: Can describe something that has broken apart, faded away, or been terminated, such as a partnership or an assembly.

Usage

• The primary use is to describe the state of a solute (like salt, sugar, or gelatin) after it has been mixed into a solvent (like water) and has become a homogeneous mixture.
• It can also be used in more formal or figurative contexts to describe something that has been formally ended or has disintegrated.

Examples

• Describing a substance in solution:
  • Stir the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved.
  • The medicine comes in the form of a dissolved powder.
• Describing something ended or disintegrated:
  • The parliament was dissolved by the king's decree.
  • The morning fog dissolved as the sun rose.

Advanced Usage

• "dissolved oxygen": Oxygen gas that has been mixed into water, crucial for aquatic life.
  • The fish require high levels of dissolved oxygen in the tank.
• "dissolved in thought": Deeply absorbed or lost in thinking (a figurative use).
  • She sat by the window, dissolved in thought.

Variants and Related Words

• Dissolve (verb): The action of causing a solid to become part of a liquid, or to formally end something.
  • Salt will dissolve in warm water.
  • The company decided to dissolve the partnership.
• Dissolution (noun): The process of dissolving or the act of formally ending something.
  • The dissolution of sugar in tea is a physical change.
  • The dissolution of the marriage was finalized in court.

Synonyms

• Liquefied: Turned into a liquid.
• Melted: Changed from a solid to a liquid, usually by heat.
• Disbanded: Broken up or terminated (for groups or organizations).

Antonyms

• Undissolved: Not mixed into a solution; still in solid form.
• Solid: Firm and stable in shape; not liquid.
• Formed: Brought together; established.

Related Phrases

• Dissolve into: To change into a different state, often tears or laughter.
  • The tense argument suddenly dissolved into laughter.
• Dissolve away: To gradually disappear.
  • The image on the old photograph had dissolved away over time.

Adjective

1. (of solid matter) reduced to a liquid form
   • add the dissolved gelatin