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

Twice, the attorney for the vaping companies pointed to an impeding change at the FDA with the election of President-elect Trump. —David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2024

The hearing comes as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to protect the vaping industry. —David Ovalle and Rachel Roubein The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 2 Dec. 2024

For the uninitiated in recreational stimulants, vaping is the inhaling of an aerosol mist from an electronic cigarette or similar device, which heats up a nicotine liquid to create a vapor that looks like smoke. —Nina Totenberg, NPR, 2 Dec. 2024

The research also showed that all of the people who vaped – with or without nicotine - had decreased oxygen saturation, meaning their lungs were probably taking in less oxygen. —Jen Christensen, CNN, 25 Nov. 2024

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

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