coalesce
verbUK /ˌkəʊ.əˈlɛs/ · US /ˌkoʊ.əˈlɛs/
Etymology From Latin coalēscō, from co- + alēscō (“grow up”).
1
Of separate elements To join into a single mass or whole.
- The droplets coalesced into a puddle.
- […] when a thing's own light and the light from something else coalescing into one on bright and smooth surfaces produce a form which yields a perception reversed from the way a thing normally looks.2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown and 2, Sophist:
2
To form from different pieces or elements.
Of a whole or a unit
- The puddle coalesced from the droplets as they ran together.
3
Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To bond pieces of metal into a continuous whole by liquefying parts of each piece, bringing the liquids into contact, and allowing the combined liquid to solidify.
4
Of separate groups or persons To merge, to intermingle freely.
- It was not a wise thing to enter a close clique, my good madam, until you had examined both them and yourself, and considered how far you were likely to coalesce.1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 27:
- We in the gay male community who are white […] will need to do conscious raising on racism with each other to effectively work with different racial groups. It follows that when attempting to coalesce with women that sexism conscious raising would need to occur.1981 August 1, Aurora Corona, “The Dead Line”, in Gay Community News, page 4:
1 more example
- The result is that once again, as in 2016, Trump is likely to prevail because Republicans cannot coalesce around an alternative—even though a candidate who is experienced in government, solidly conservative, and acceptable to most factions of the party is right there in front of them.2023 August 16, Jonathan Rauch, “Why Not Pence?”, in The Atlantic:
5
Computing, Databases, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To convert a null value to a defined value.
- You can improve the display by coalescing the ID columns. As I note in Chapter 9, the COALESCE expression takes on the value of the first non-null value in a list of values.2018, Allen G. Taylor, SQL For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:
- Synonyms
- agglomerate, aggregate, incorporate, cumulate, alloy, amalgamate, blend, coalesce, combine, consolidate, conflate, embody, fuse, integrate, mass, meld, merge, unite
- Derived terms
- coalescible, electrocoalesce, noncoalescing, recoalesce, uncoalesce
- Related terms
- -esce, coalescence, coalescent, coalition, assemble
- Hyponyms
- reembody