Definition of "mirage"

mirage

/mɪˈɹɑːʒ/

noun
plural mirages
1. An optical phenomenon in which light is refracted through a layer of hot air close to the ground, often giving the illusion of a body of water.
2. (figuratively) An illusion.
  Quotations
  I remember hearing, that in the East the clear and azure waters seem to flow before the weary and parched traveller; yet a little further, and on he urges his weary way, but in vain—the fair stream is a delusion. Even thus happiness is the mirage which leads us over the desert of life, ever fated to end in deceit and disappointment.
  1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 68
verb
third-person singular simple present mirages, present participle miraging, simple past and past participle miraged
1. (transitive) To cause to appear as or like a mirage.
  Quotations
  All that had been in his mind seemed suddenly miraged before him—the removal of Hunterleys, his own wife's failing health.
  1915, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo‎
  The vision of a salon was miraged before her, with herself in the middle deftly manipulating the destinies of a nation.
  1901, A. E. W. Mason, Ensign Knightley and Other Stories‎