dissolve

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

dissolve into (something)

1. To physically break down into a liquid state. Soon enough, the snowball in my hand dissolved into water. That hard candy dissolves into a gooey center. It's hot out, so drink up before those ice cubes dissolve into water and dilute your drink!

2. Of a solid substance, to become integrated with a liquid. This medicine dissolves into milk so it's easy to give to children. Swish the liquid around to help the salt dissolve into it. Mix the sugar cubes in very slowly and steadily, or else they won't dissolve into the solution properly.

3. To cause a solid substance to become integrated with a liquid. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "dissolve" and "into." It's easier to dissolve sugar into a warm liquid than into a cold one. Then you just need to dissolve the flavor packet into boiling water. Turn up the temperature, or this cube of chicken stock will never dissolve into your broth.

4. To express one's emotions in a sudden outburst. The kids dissolved into laughter as soon as the clown started dancing. I dissolved into tears as soon as I stepped into the funeral home. I knew she wouldn't like that haunted house—she dissolved into screams almost immediately.

5. To devolve into a more chaotic or disorderly state. After only a few minutes, the meeting dissolved into chaos, with both sides shouting at each other. Every family dinner seems to dissolve into an argument about politics. These town council meetings always dissolve into a shouting match because there's inevitably one issue or another that's gotten everyone upset.

6. In film, TV, or video editing, for an image to fade into another image. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "dissolve" and "into." And then that shot will dissolve into a shot of the beach outside the house. During the theme song, I want one cast member's face to dissolve into another's and so on. After that particularly scary scene, I want everything to dissolve into black!

dissolve into something

1. . Lit. [for a substance to change from a solid state into another state; [for a substance] to melt or liquefy something. (Compare this with dissolve in something.) In a hot pan, the sugar dissolved into syrup.

2. Fig. [for someone] to begin suddenly to display laughter, tears, giggles, gales of laughter, etc. (See also dissolve in something.) The children dissolved into tears. The clown's appearance made the audience dissolve into laughter.

3. Fig. [for a film or television picture] to fade away into some other picture. The scene dissolved into a shot of the interior of the castle. At this point in thescript, dissolve to a face shot of Walter.

dissolve something into something

to cause a film or television picture to fade away into some other picture. (See also dissolve into something {3}.) The director dissolved the picture into the next scene. At this point, the opening scene should be dissolved into a side shot of the exterior.