transpire
/træns'paiə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
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.
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
- give off (water) through the skin
- come about, happen, or occur
- Several important events transpired last week
- come to light; become known
- It transpired that she had worked as spy in East Germany
- exude water vapor
- plants transpire
- pass through the tissue or substance or its pores or interstices, as of gas