van ‧ ish /ˈvænɪʃ/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: evanir , from Vulgar Latin exvanire , from Latin evanescere ; ⇨ ↑ evanescent ]
1 . to disappear suddenly, especially in a way that cannot be easily explained:
My keys were here a minute ago but now they’ve vanished.
vanish without (a) trace/vanish off the face of the earth (=disappear so that no sign remains)
The youngster vanished without a trace one day and has never been found.
The bird vanished from sight.
She seemed to have just vanished into thin air (=suddenly disappeared in a very mysterious way) .
2 . to suddenly stop existing SYN disappear
vanish from
By the 1930s, the wolf had vanished from the American West.
Public support for the Prime Minister has now vanished.
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THESAURUS
▪ disappear if something disappears, you cannot see it any longer, or it does not exist any longer:
The sun slowly disappeared over the horizon.
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Millions of people saw their savings disappear.
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16% of the forest cover has disappeared during the last 100 years.
▪ vanish to completely disappear, especially suddenly:
The boat vanished without trace off the coast of Australia.
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All hopes of finding the boy alive have vanished.
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The fields have vanished beneath a new town of skyscrapers and motorways.
▪ go away to stop existing – used about something bad such as a pain or a problem:
I wish this headache would go away.
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I’m afraid the problem won’t just go away.
▪ fade away to gradually become less clear, strong, or bright, and finally disappear:
Her voice began to fade away.
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His anger slowly faded away.
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The last rays of the evening sun were fading away.
▪ melt away especially literary to disappear, especially gradually – used about feelings or groups of people:
The crowd began to melt away.
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His initial excitement had melted away.
▪ die out to stop existing after gradually becoming more and more rare – used about a type of animal or plant, a disease, or a custom:
Wolves had died out in much of Europe.
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Many of the old childhood diseases have almost died out.
▪ become extinct if a type of animal or plant becomes extinct, it stops existing:
Dinosaurs became extinct millions of years ago.
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If nothing is done to save the whales, they will soon become extinct.