Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Dissolve

Dissolve , transitive verb

[Latin dissolvere, dissolutum; dis- + solvere to loose, free. See Solve, and compare Dissolute.]

1.
To separate into competent parts; to disorganize; to break up; hence, to bring to an end by separating the parts, sundering a relation, etc.; to terminate; to destroy; to deprive of force; as, to dissolve a partnership; to dissolve Parliament.
Lest his ungoverned rage dissolve the life. — Shakespeare
2.
To break the continuity of; to disconnect; to disunite; to sunder; to loosen; to undo; to separate.
Nothing can dissolve us. — Shakespeare
Down fell the duke, his joints dissolved asunder. — Fairfax
For one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another. — The Declaration of Independence
3.
To convert into a liquid by means of heat, moisture, etc.,; to melt; to liquefy; to soften.
As if the world were all dissolved to tears. — Shakespeare
4.
To solve; to clear up; to resolve.
Dissolved the mystery. — Tennyson
Make interpretations and dissolve doubts. — Dan. v. 16
5.
To relax by pleasure; to make powerless.
Angels dissolved in hallelujahs lie. — Dryden
6.
(Law) To annul; to rescind; to discharge or release; as, to dissolve an injunction.

Dissolve , intransitive verb

1.
To waste away; to be dissipated; to be decomposed or broken up.
2.
To become fluid; to be melted; to be liquefied.
A figure Trenched in ice, which with an hour's heat Dissolves to water, and doth lose his form. — Shakespeare
3.
To fade away; to fall to nothing; to lose power.
The charm dissolves apace. — Shakespeare