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

Users can access raw plant material, but must use it in non-combustible forms like vaping. —Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 1 Jan. 2025

Under Kentucky's new law, consuming the plant in its natural form through smoking and growing it at home could result in legal consequences or a loss of license if registered users try to light up instead of other means of using it, like vaping. —Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 30 Dec. 2024

While vaping nicotine may suppress appetite, there isn’t much evidence to support the use of vaping in managing weight. —Soma Mandal, Verywell Health, 16 Oct. 2024

The report also found that, among members of the LGBTQ+ community, about 32% of gay men have vaped at one point in their lives, compared with 27% of lesbians and 47% of bisexual people. —Mathew Rodriguez, Them, 3 Dec. 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