Wordnet 3.0
VERB (2)
1.
melt away in the process of decay;
- Example: "The fungi eventually deliquesced"2.
melt or become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air;
- Example: "this type of salt deliquesces easily"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Deliquesce \Del`i*quesce"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Deliquesced;
p. pr. & vb. n. Deliquescing.] [L. deliquescere to melt,
dissolve; de- + liquescere to become fluid, melt, fr. liquere
to be fluid. See Liquid.] (Chem.)
To dissolve gradually and become liquid by attracting and
absorbing moisture from the air, as certain salts, acids, and
alkalies.
In very moist air crystals of strontites deliquesce.
--Black.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
deliquesce
v 1: melt away in the process of decay; "The fungi eventually
deliquesced"
2: melt or become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air;
"this type of salt deliquesces easily"