Definition

1. Verb (intransitive):

   • To happen or occur: To take place, often in a way that becomes known or apparent.
   • To become known or revealed: For information or a fact to come to light, often surprisingly.
   • (Biology) To give off vapor or moisture: For a plant or leaf to release water vapor through its pores.

2. Verb (transitive, less common):

   • To emit or give off: To discharge or release, especially moisture or vapor.

Usage and Examples

• To happen or occur:

  • It is difficult to predict what will transpire during the negotiations.
  • Several significant events transpired after the meeting.

• To become known or revealed:

  • It later transpired that the witness had given false testimony.
  • If it transpires that you knew about this, there will be consequences.

• (Biology) To give off vapor:

  • Leaves transpire water vapor into the atmosphere.
  • The rate at which plants transpire increases in dry, hot conditions.

Advanced Usage and Notes

• In formal and journalistic contexts, "transpire" is correctly used to mean "to become known" (e.g., ).
• In everyday, informal speech, it is frequently—though sometimes criticized—used as a synonym for "to happen" or "to occur." This usage is now widely accepted.
• The biological sense is technical and specific to botany and environmental science.

Variants and Related Words

• Transpiration (noun): The process by which moisture is carried through plants and released as vapor.
  • Transpiration is a key part of the water cycle.

Synonyms

• Happen, Occur, Take place: For the "to happen" meaning.
• Become known, Emerge, Come to light: For the "to become known" meaning.
• Emit, Exude, Give off: For the biological meaning.

Idioms and Common Phrases

• As it transpired...: Used to introduce a fact that became known later.
  • We planned a picnic, but as it transpired, it rained all day.

Verb

1. give off (water) through the skin
2. come about, happen, or occur
   • Several important events transpired last week
3. come to light; become known
   • It transpired that she had worked as spy in East Germany
4. exude water vapor
   • plants transpire
5. pass through the tissue or substance or its pores or interstices, as of gas