(in psychoanalytic theory) divert or modify (an instinctual impulse) into a culturally higher or socially more acceptable activity
I try to sublimate this energy into productivity at work
we often sublimate our own health and needs to care for our spouse
an expression of sublimated anxieties
(of a solid substance) change directly into vapour when heated, typically forming a solid deposit again on cooling
nitrogen sublimates at a lower temperature