Word of the Day
: August 29, 2017coalesce
playWhat It Means
1 : to grow together
2 a : to unite into a whole : fuse
b : to unite for a common end : join forces
3 : to arise from the combination of distinct elements
coalesce in Context
"Parties typically struggle to coalesce on complex legislative issues." — Frances Lee, The Washington Post, 23 July 2017
"Their first gig was at the Kennedy Center. More gigs followed, ... and the musicians coalesced into a working band, on the road three weeks out of every month." — Fred Kaplan, The New Yorker, 22 May 2017
Did You Know?
Coalesce unites the prefix co- ("together") and the Latin verb alescere, meaning "to grow." (The words adolescent and adult also grew from alescere.) Coalesce, which first appeared in English in the mid-16th century, is one of a number of verbs in English (along with mix, commingle, merge, and amalgamate) that refer to the act of combining parts into a whole. In particular, coalesce usually implies the merging of similar parts to form a cohesive unit.
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Test Your Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks to complete a noun that refers to a growing together (a coalescence): c _ _ cr _ _ c _ _ ce.
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