precipitate into (redirected from precipitate)

precipitate something into something 

1. Lit. to cause a chemical to go out of a solution into a solid form. Adding just one salt grain at the right time will precipitate the salt dissolved into the water into large crystals. One grain precipitated the dissolved salt into crystals.

2. Fig. to cause something to become more serious. The gunshot precipitated the incident into a riot. The rally was precipitated into a serious brawl.

precipitate into something 

1. Lit. [for a chemical] to go out of solution into solid form. The sodium chloride precipitated into a salt. Will this compound precipitate into anything if I cool it?

2. Fig. [for something] to become a more serious matter. By then, the street fight had precipitated into a riot. We were afraid that the argument would precipitate into a fight.