CRYSTALLISE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crystallise mean? 

• CRYSTALLISE (verb)
  The verb CRYSTALLISE has 3 senses:

1. make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear

2. cause to form crystals or assume crystalline form

3. cause to take on a definite and clear shape

  Familiarity information: CRYSTALLISE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRYSTALLISE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they crystallise    ... he / she / it crystallises   
Past simple: crystallised   
Past participle: crystallised   
-ing form: crystallising   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

clear; clear up; crystalise; crystalize; crystallise; crystallize; elucidate; enlighten; illuminate; shed light on; sort out; straighten out

Context example:

Clear up the question of who is at fault

Hypernyms (to "crystallise" is one way to...):

clarify; clear up; elucidate (make clear and (more) comprehensible)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to form crystals or assume crystalline form

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

crystalise; crystalize; crystallise; crystallize

Context example:

crystallize minerals

Hypernyms (to "crystallise" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Cause:

crystalise; crystalize; crystallize; effloresce (assume crystalline form; become crystallized)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

crystallisation (the formation of crystals)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to take on a definite and clear shape

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

crystalise; crystalize; crystallise; crystallize

Context example:

He tried to crystallize his thoughts

Hypernyms (to "crystallise" is one way to...):

form; shape (give shape or form to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

There have been two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To accomplish the change was like a reflux of being, and this when the plasticity of youth was no longer his; when the fibre of him had become tough and knotty; when the warp and the woof of him had made of him an adamantine texture, harsh and unyielding; when the face of his spirit had become iron and all his instincts and axioms had crystallised into set rules, cautions, dislikes, and desires.

(White Fang, by Jack London)