sublimation

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

sublimation
    n 1: (chemistry) a change directly from the solid to the gaseous
         state without becoming liquid
    2: (psychology) modifying the natural expression of an impulse
       or instinct (especially a sexual one) to one that is socially
       acceptable

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Sublimation \Sub"li*ma`tion\, n. [LL. sublimatio: cf. F.
   sublimation.]
   1. (Chem.) The act or process of subliming, or the state or
      result of being sublimed.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The act of heightening or improving; exaltation;
      elevation; purification.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. That which is sublimed; the product of a purifying
      process.
      [1913 Webster]

            Religion is the perfection, refinement, and
            sublimation of morality.              --South.
      [1913 Webster]

79 Moby Thesaurus words for "sublimation": aeration, aerification, alienation, atomization, autism, autistic thinking, avoidance mechanism, blame-shifting, block, blocking, bolting, clarification, colature, compensation, conversion, decompensation, defense mechanism, dereism, dereistic thinking, destructive distillation, displacement, dissociation, distillation, edulcoration, elution, elutriation, emotional insulation, escape, escape into fantasy, escape mechanism, escapism, essentialization, etherealization, etherification, evaporation, exhalation, extraction, fantasizing, fantasy, filtering, filtration, flight, fluidization, fractionation, fumigation, gasification, isolation, leaching, lixiviation, mental block, negativism, overcompensation, percolation, projection, psychotaxis, purification, rationalization, refinement, repression, resistance, riddling, screening, separation, sieving, sifting, smoking, sociological adjustive reactions, spiritualization, steaming, straining, substitution, suppression, symbolization, vaporization, volatilization, winnowing, wish-fulfillment fantasy, wishful thinking, withdrawal