Definition of "coalesce"

coalesce

/ˌkəʊ.əˈlɛs/

verb
third-person singular simple present coalesces, present participle coalescing, simple past and past participle coalesced
1. (of separate elements) To join into a single mass or whole.
  Quotations
  […] 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. (of a whole or a unit) To form from different pieces or elements.
3. (engineering) 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.
  Quotations
  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, […], page 27
  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. (databases, SQL) To convert a null value to a defined value.
  Quotations
  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

Definition of "coalesce"

coalesce

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations