What does degasses mean?
'Degasses' is the third-person singular form of 'degas,' a technical verb meaning to remove dissolved or trapped gas from a substance. In laboratories and industry, workers degas liquids such as solvents, resins, water, and molten metals using methods like heating under vacuum, ultrasonic agitation, or sparging with an inert gas. The goal is usually practical: eliminating bubbles that would weaken an epoxy casting, cause porosity in cast metal, or interfere with chromatographic analysis. Beyond deliberate removal, materials also degas naturally — spacecraft components, for example, release absorbed gases into the vacuum of space. The word combines the prefix 'de-' (removal) with 'gas,' a term coined in the seventeenth century from Greek roots meaning 'chaos.' Though rarely heard outside scientific settings, it is precise and well established wherever bubbles matter, making it a useful term for anyone working with liquids, polymers, or precision instruments.
verbTo remove dissolved or trapped gas from a liquid, solid, or material, typically by heating, vacuum treatment, or agitation.
- To remove dissolved or entrapped gas from a liquid or material, as by vacuum or heating.
- To release gas from a solid or sealed container, sometimes gradually over time.
"The technician degasses the epoxy resin in a vacuum chamber before pouring the mold."
"Before casting, she degasses the molten metal to eliminate porosity defects."
"The spacecraft's materials slowly degassed in orbit, releasing volatile compounds into the vacuum."
One letter apart, 'degasses' removes air while 'degausses' erases magnetic fields — a typo that could confuse any lab report.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of degasses
The verb 'degas' is formed transparently from the prefix 'de-' plus the noun 'gas.' The word 'gas' itself was coined in the early seventeenth century by the Flemish chemist Jan Baptista van Helmont, who reportedly derived it from the Greek word 'chaos' to describe vaporous substances lacking fixed shape. As chemistry and engineering matured through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, 'degas' emerged as the standard technical verb for removing gas from liquids and materials. Its cognates are essentially the family of English terms built on 'gas,' including 'gaseous' and 'gasify.'
Related word forms
How degasses is actually used
Primarily a technical term used in chemistry, engineering, metallurgy, and aerospace contexts; rare in everyday conversation. The noun form 'degassing' is more common than the bare verb.
Easily confused with degasses
Degausses means to erase magnetic fields (from Gauss), while degasses means to remove gas from a substance; they differ by only one letter.