mist
[noun]
Synonyms: fog, cloud, film, haze, smog, spray, steam, vapour

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English Thesaurus: cloud, fog, mist, haze, smog, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. mist¹ /mɪst/ noun
[Language: Old English]

1. [uncountable and countable] a light cloud low over the ground that makes it difficult for you to see very far ⇒ fog:
We could just see the outline of the house through the mist.
He vanished into the mist.
The hills were shrouded in mist (=covered in mist, so that you could not see them).
The mist came down off the mountains.
The mists rolled in off the sea (=came on to the land the sea)

2. lost in the mists of time if something such as a fact or secret is lost in the mists of time, no one remembers it because it happened so long ago:
The real reasons for the war are now lost in the mists of time.

3. see something through a mist of tears literary to see something while you are crying

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. mist² verb
[transitive] to cover something with very small drops of liquid in order to keep it wet:
The plant has to be misted every day.
mist over phrasal verb

1. if someone’s eyes mist over, they become filled with tears:
His eyes misted over at the memory of his wife.

2. to mist up
mist up phrasal verb
if a piece of glass mists up, or if something mists it up, it becomes covered with very small drops of water so that you cannot see through it
mist something ↔ up
I can’t see where I’m going, with the windows all misted up like this.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

mist
noun
ADJ. dense, heavy, thick A heavy mist rolled over the fields.
faint, fine, light, slight, thin | dark, grey, red, white There was a red mist in front of his eyes.
dawn, evening, morning an early morning mist
autumn | sea
VERB + MIST be cloaked in, be covered in, be shrouded in, be wreathed in The harbour was covered in a thick mist.
disappear into, vanish in/into The little town had vanished in the mist.
emerge from, loom out of A large figure loomed out of the mist.
break through, shine through Soon the sun would break through the mist.
peer into/through | be lost in (figurative) The origins of Morris dancing are lost in the mists of time.
MIST + VERB hang, hover, lie A faint mist hung over the valley.
come down, descend When the mist comes down it comes quickly and covers everything.
clear, lift The mist had cleared by mid-morning.
drift, float, rise, roll, swirl A grey mist floated towards us. a swirling mist a thin mist rising from the river
cling to sth Early morning mist still clung to the hollows.
fill sth | cover sth, hide sth, obscure sth, shroud sth A white mist obscured the top of the hill.
PREP. in/into the ~ It was hard to make out the path in the mist.
through the ~ The cottage was scarcely visible through the mist.
PHRASES a curtain/veil of mist

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

mist

be covered in mist (also be shrouded in mist literary)
The tops of the mountains were shrouded in mist.
a mist comes down/in (=comes to a place)
The mist came down like a curtain.
a mist rolls in (=moves along to a place)
A mist began to roll in off the sea.
the mist clears/lifts (=goes away)
The mountains suddenly appeared as the mist lifted.
mist swirls (=moves in circles)
The boat disappeared into the swirling mist.
a mist hangs/lies somewhere (=stays in a place)
A thick mist lay on the hills.
a mist drifts (=moves slightly)
A mist drifted over the marsh.
a mist rises (=comes up from something such as water)
I could see the mist rising from the river.
a mist obscures/hides something (=covers something so that you cannot see it)
Mist obscured the ships in the harbor.
disappear/vanish into the mist (=stop being seen because of the mist)
He passed me on the trail and disappeared into the mist.
appear out of the mist (also emerge from the mist)
Suddenly my commanding officer appeared out of the mist.
loom out of the mist (=start being seen in a way that is not clear, because the mist still covers it slightly)
Here and there trees loomed out of the mist.
a fine/light mist
A fine mist began to settle on the water.
a thick/heavy mist
Outside, a heavy mist obscured everything.
the morning/evening mist
The sun broke through the morning mist.
autumn mist(s)
The field looked magical in the autumn mist.
a sea mist
Alice sailed into a small patch of sea mist.
a veil/curtain of mist (=an amount of mist that prevents you seeing something clearly)
We looked up, through the veil of mist, at the waterfall.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

mist
noun
BAD: Her flight was held up on account of the mist.
GOOD: Her flight was held up on account of the fog.

Usage Note:
mist = tiny drops of water in the air that make it difficult to see things that are far away: 'As the day wore on, the early morning mist quickly disappeared.'
fog = very thick mist: 'Traffic on several stretches of the M1 was slowed to a walking pace this morning as the result of thick fog.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

cloud noun [uncountable and countable] a white or grey mass in the sky that forms from very small drops of water:
The storm was still a way off but black clouds were gathering.
Thick cloud obscured the top of the hill.
fog noun [uncountable and countable] very thick cloud near the ground which is difficult to see through:
The cars crashed into each other in thick fog.
The fog had lifted (=disappeared)slightly.
mist noun [uncountable and countable] light cloud near the ground that makes it difficult for you to see very far. Mist is usually not as thick as fog. You often get mist near areas of water or mountains:
The morning mist was lifting and the sun was coming up.
A grey mist hung over the water.
The hills were shrouded in mist (=surrounded by mist).
haze noun [singular, uncountable] smoke, dust, or mist in the air which is difficult to see through:
He saw the horses coming towards him through a haze of dust.
The road shimmered in the heat haze.
A pale blue haze hung over the far-off mountains.
smog noun [uncountable and countable] dirty air that looks like a mixture of smoke and fog, caused by smoke from cars and factories in cities:
The city is covered in smog for much of the year.
A smog warning was issued for parts of Southern Oregon.
thundercloud noun [countable] a large dark cloud that you see before or during a storm:
He watched the thunderclouds roll across the valley.
vapour trail British English, vapor trail American English noun [countable] the white line that is left in the sky by a plane:
High overhead, a jet left its vapour trail across the blue sky.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲