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Originally Posted by pghnative
Regarding the definition of "steam", I believe you are both right. Certainly from a technical standpoint, "steam" is a vapor and therefore invisible. But my version of Websters (2nd college edition, 1984) has the following as definition 3:
condensed water vapor, seen as the mist condensed on windows or in the air above boiling water.
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Technically steam IS invisible. However, a dictionary's job is to report also the common usage and meaning of a word. Thanks to so many people not realizing that true steam is invisible, the common name for the cloud of condensed water droplets you see is, indeed, steam. Therefore the dictionary will (or should) also give that definition. Like it or not, it's part of the evolution of language.