liquefies

Liquefies is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb liquefy. To liquefy means to transform a substance into a liquid, either by raising temperature to melt a solid or by cooling and compressing a gas to condense it. Liquefaction can describe turning materials into liquids for processing, storage, or transport. In fluids and materials science, the term also covers processes where a mixture becomes a single liquid phase rather than remaining as solids or vapors.

Etymology: Liquefy comes from Late Latin liquefacere, from Latin liquidus meaning “liquid,” via French liquéfier, meaning to make liquid. The form liquefies is the singular present tense of the verb in English.

Applications and contexts: In energy and industry, liquefaction turns gases such as natural gas into liquids (for example, LNG) for efficient transport. In cryogenics, gases are cooled and pressurized to become liquids at very low temperatures. In geology, soil liquefaction occurs during earthquakes when saturated soils temporarily lose strength and behave like liquids under stress. In chemistry and materials science, melting or dissolution can produce a liquid phase from solids or solutes, enabling processing, mixing, or separation steps.

Usage note: Liquefies appears in descriptive or instructional writing to indicate that a subject causes or undergoes this phase change. The related noun is liquefaction, and the adjective liquefied describes something that has already been turned into a liquid.