vape

verb

ˈvāp 

vaped; vaping

transitive + intransitive

: to inhale vapor through the mouth from a usually battery-operated electronic device (such as an electronic cigarette) that heats up and vaporizes a liquid or solid

This electronic cigarette … contains a small reservoir of liquid nicotine solution that is vaporized to form an aerosol mist. The user "vapes," or puffs on the vapor, to get a hit of the addictive nicotine …

—John Tierney

When a person tokes, eats or vapes cannabis, a wave of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, washes into the brain.

—Laura Sanders

vaper noun

The problem is that little is known about the precise dangers of being in the same space as a vaper indulging their e-habit.

—Amber Dance

Examples of vape in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Among the sector’s 33 newcomers: Chinese vaping mogul Zhang Shengwei ($2.2 billion) and Swiss hearing aid tycoon Hans-Ueli Rihs ($1.8 billion). —Grace Thomas, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025

In New York, 18.7% of high school students vaped in 2022, according to statewide health data. —Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2025

They've also been associated with why adolescents continue to vape and do so with more frequency. —Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025

While vaping among youth is declining, more than 1.6 million children use the products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. —Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 2 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

short for vapor entry 1, in reference to the aerosol produced by the cigarette, by analogy with smoke entry 2

First Known Use

1999, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for vape

• ape
• cape
• crape
• crepe
• drape
• gape
• grape
• pape
• rape
• scape
• scrape
• shape

Kids Definition

vape

verb

ˈvāp 

: to inhale vapor through the mouth from a usually battery-operated electronic device that heats up and vaporizes a liquid or solid

Medical Definition

vape

verb

ˈvāp 

vaped; vaping

intransitive verb

: to inhale and exhale vapor from an electronic cigarette or similar device like someone smoking a conventional cigarette

transitive verb

: to inhale or exhale the vapor of

vaper noun

Vapers can inhale huge numbers of very small aerosol particles into the lung's tiniest airways.

—Janet Raloff, Science News