disappear

[dis-uh-peer] /ˌdɪs əˈpɪər/
verb (used without object)
1.
to cease to be seen; vanish from sight.
2.
to cease to exist or be known; pass away; end gradually:
One by one the symptoms disappeared.
3.
(of a person) to vanish under suspicious circumstances:
The dictator's outspoken opponent disappeared that evening, shortly after midnight.
verb (used with object)
4.
to cause to disappear:
The magician then disappeared the card.
5.
to kidnap or arrest and then imprison or kill (a political opponent) without due process of law.
noun, (used with a plural verb)
6.
the disappeared, political opponents who are caused to disappear, as by kidnapping:
the disappeared of Argentina.
Origin
1520-30; dis-1 + appear
Related forms
nondisappearing, adjective
undisappearing, adjective
Synonyms
1. Disappear, fade, vanish suggest that something passes from sight. Disappear is used of whatever suddenly or gradually goes out of sight: We watched him turn down a side street and then disappear. Fade suggests a (complete or partial) disappearance that proceeds gradually and often by means of a blending into something else: Colors in the sky at sunrise quickly fade. Vanish suggests complete, generally rapid, and often mysterious disappearance: A mirage can vanish as suddenly as it appears.
Examples from the web for disappear
  • Specialties will vanish, teaching positions will shift and disappear.
  • But without insects and microbes, humans would disappear quickly.
  • Lounsbury may have other ways of making his problems disappear.
  • Nor do the liabilities disappear if the pension scheme fails to achieve its targeted returns.
  • But they sometimes disappear for weeks, diving more than a mile down and resting in the chilly deep for a spell.
  • Sunspots have long been known to appear and disappear from the sun's surface.
  • We all need to be more tolerant of each other so that our own cultures do not disappear.
  • Twigs have flat, corky wings that disappear on older growth.
  • In the early going, he's not going to completely disappear.
  • Though the plant is again operational, with some limitations, the damage will not soon disappear.
British Dictionary definitions for disappear

disappear

/ˌdɪsəˈpɪə/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to cease to be visible; vanish
2.
(intransitive) to go away or become lost, esp secretly or without explanation
3.
(intransitive) to cease to exist, have effect, or be known; become extinct or lost: the pain has disappeared
4.
(transitive) (esp in South and Central America) to arrest secretly and presumably imprison or kill (a member of an opposing political group)
Derived Forms
disappearance, noun
Word Origin and History for disappear
v.

early 15c., disaperen, from dis- "do the opposite of" + appear. Earlier was disparish (early 15c.), from French disparaiss-, stem of disparaître. Related: Disappeared; disappearing; disappears. Slang disappearing act is originally of magic shows; in figurative sense of "getting away" first attested 1913.