Outgasses

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To expel gases or vapors from a material during its exposure to heat or during a chemical transformation
2. Emits trapped or dissolved gases from a substance, often when heated or chemically changed
3. Gases escape from a solid or liquid as conditions such as heat cause the release

Etymology: "Outgasses" is the third-person singular form of "outgas," a verb built from the prefix "out-" and the noun "gas." The noun "gas" has an unusual origin: it was coined in the early 1600s by the Flemish chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont, who needed a name for the vapours he obtained from burning wood and other materials. He reportedly took it from the Greek "khaos," meaning chaos or empty space, and shaped it to fit Dutch spelling habits, so the word is a deliberate invention rather than an ancient term. "Out-" descends from an Old English word "ūt," meaning outward or away from within, and it has long been a productive prefix for forming verbs like "outrun" or "outlast." Attaching it to "gas" yields a verb meaning that gas leaves a material, usually when heated. The term is common in fields such as spacecraft engineering, where materials release trapped gases in a vacuum.

Synonyms: emits, releases, exudes, ventilates, evaporates