TRANSPIRE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does transpire mean? 

• TRANSPIRE (verb)
  The verb TRANSPIRE has 5 senses:

1. pass through the tissue or substance or its pores or interstices, as of gas

2. exude water vapor

3. come to light; become known

4. come about, happen, or occur

5. give off (water) through the skin

  Familiarity information: TRANSPIRE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRANSPIRE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they transpire    ... he / she / it transpires   
Past simple: transpired   
Past participle: transpired   
-ing form: transpiring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pass through the tissue or substance or its pores or interstices, as of gas

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

transpirate; transpire

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

flow; flux (move or progress freely as if in a stream)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

transpiration (the passage of gases through fine tubes because of differences in pressure or temperature)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Exude water vapor

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

plants transpire

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

evaporate; vaporise; vaporize (lose or cause to lose liquid by vaporization leaving a more concentrated residue)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

transpiration (the emission of water vapor from the leaves of plants)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Come to light; become known

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

It transpired that she had worked as spy in East Germany

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

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Sentence frame:

It ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 4

Meaning:

Come about, happen, or occur

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Several important events transpired last week

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

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Give off (water) through the skin

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

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

exudate; exude; ooze; ooze out; transude (release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

transpiration (the process of giving off or exhaling water vapor through the skin or mucous membranes)

 Context examples 

She did not learn either to forget or defend the past; but she learned to hope that it would never transpire farther, and that it might not cost her Henry's entire regard.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Fanny learnt from her all the particulars which had yet transpired.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

You have a dazzling forecast for February, and you will like what transpires.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

What occurred during that time has not yet transpired, but at a quarter to twelve Police-constable Barrett, passing along Godolphin Street observed that the door of No. 16 was ajar.

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

Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady.

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

That means water vapor transpired from plants has more deuterium than water vapor evaporated from the ocean.

(New Study Shows the Amazon Makes Its Own Rainy Season, NASA)

What his subsequent conduct and proposals were is a matter of pure conjecture; but when an event transpired which rendered inquiry after the governess necessary, it was discovered she was gone—no one could tell when, where, or how.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And in the wretched state of his own finances, there was a very powerful motive for secrecy, in addition to his fear of discovery by Lydia's relations, for it had just transpired that he had left gaming debts behind him to a very considerable amount.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? or can it be the old story of Dr. Fell? or is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent?

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Water that is transpired by plants, on the other hand, has the same amount of deuterium as water that's still in the ground — the plant sucks water out of the ground like a straw, no matter which isotope the water contains.

(New Study Shows the Amazon Makes Its Own Rainy Season, NASA)