SUBLIMATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sublimation mean? 

• SUBLIMATION (noun)
  The noun SUBLIMATION has 2 senses:

1. (chemistry) a change directly from the solid to the gaseous state without becoming liquid

2. (psychology) modifying the natural expression of an impulse or instinct (especially a sexual one) to one that is socially acceptable

  Familiarity information: SUBLIMATION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUBLIMATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(chemistry) a change directly from the solid to the gaseous state without becoming liquid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("sublimation" is a kind of...):

shift; transformation; transmutation (a qualitative change)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Derivation:

sublimate (change or cause to change directly from a solid into a vapor without first melting)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(psychology) modifying the natural expression of an impulse or instinct (especially a sexual one) to one that is socially acceptable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("sublimation" is a kind of...):

alteration; change; modification (an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another)

Domain category:

psychological science; psychology (the science of mental life)

Derivation:

sublimate (direct energy or urges into useful activities)

 Context examples 

They form through a process known as sublimation, which requires bright, sustained sunlight as well as cold, dry and still air.

(Icy Warning for Space Missions to Jupiter's Moon, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Io’s atmosphere is in a constant state of collapse and repair, and shows that a large fraction of the atmosphere is supported by sublimation of SO2 ice.

(New Research Reveals Fluctuating Atmosphere of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon, NASA)

However, once the buried ice becomes exposed to Mars' atmosphere, a scarp likely grows wider and taller as it "retreats," due to sublimation of the ice directly from solid form into water vapor.

(Steep Slopes on Mars Reveal Structure of Buried Ice, NASA)

They suspect it may be caused by a process known as sublimation—the transition of a substance from a solid to a gas.

(What’s Eating at Pluto?, NASA)

The warmer temperatures encourage melting and sublimation at all ice surfaces exposed to the air.

(Retreat of Yakutat Glacier, NASA)

Elsewhere, the surface appears to be etched by fields of small pits that may have formed by a process called sublimation, in which ice turns directly from solid to gas, just as dry ice does on Earth.

(New Horizons Discovers Frozen Plains in the Heart of Pluto’s ‘Heart’, NASA)

Sublimation is a process through which ice turns directly into water vapour without melting into a liquid first.

(Icy Warning for Space Missions to Jupiter's Moon, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Scientists speculate that sublimation of methane may be causing the plateau material to erode along the face of the cliffs, causing them to retreat south and leave the plains of Piri Planitia in their wake.

(What’s Eating at Pluto?, NASA)

When sublimation occurs, these distinctive blade-like formations are left behind.

(Icy Warning for Space Missions to Jupiter's Moon, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

In their study, the researchers used observational data to calculate the sublimation rates at various points on Europa's surface and thus used these to estimate the size and distribution of penitentes.

(Icy Warning for Space Missions to Jupiter's Moon, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)