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Glite Dictionary
🕵️ To become known 💧 To release vapor 🕳️ To pass through
to transpire

to transpire

1 8.3
To pass liquid or gas through the small holes in a material
  • verb
  • /trænˈspaɪər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : filtrarse
  • As the leaves photosynthesize, they transpire water vapor, helping to regulate temperature.

Examples

  • There is evidence that learning may transpire automatically, as a result of passive familiarization to the degraded auditory productions (e.g., Hustad & Cahill, 2003).

    Academic text (2012)

  • I watched the events transpire from CCTV (closed-circuit television) in a big restaurant in Calgary.

    Blog text (7)

  • Although efficiency rates vary by crop type, for many crops only 10 to 20 percent of the water supplied in either irrigated (not drip) or rain-fed agriculture is transpired by the plant.

    Academic text (2008)

  • When the temperature rises, moisture may transpire from the surface of the soil into the air.

  • The gas began to transpire through the tiny pores of the membrane.

Synonyms

to transpirate
vsto transpire
  • Specialized
9.9

To pass through small holes or spaces in a material, like water vapor through leaves

describes passage through tissue or pores without stressing release mechanism
to transude
vsto transpire
9.9

To pass slowly through a surface and come out as small drops

involves passing through pores but not necessarily appearing as drops

How Permeable

to permeate
24 6.0
to diffuse
40 5.5
to transpire
  • Specialized
1 8.3
to seep
82 2.7

Surface Forms

transpire infinitive
transpired past
transpired past participle
transpiring present participle
transpires third person singular

Morphology

transpire = spire (semi-transparent) = trans + spire

The physical sense 'pass through' can be related to 'trans-' + 'spire', but learners who don't recognise the combining root may not derive it easily.

Etymology

Transpire in this sense comes from trans- 'across' and spirare 'to breathe'. Imagine a gas 'breathing across' a fabric or skin and moving through tiny holes, and you can see why it means to pass through a surface.