To divert or modify an instinctual impulse into a culturally higher or socially more acceptable activity. He sublimated his aggressive impulses by taking up boxing.
To cause a substance to change directly from a solid to a gas without becoming liquid. The chemist sublimated the iodine crystals by heating them gently.
To change directly from a solid to a gas without passing through a liquid phase; to undergo sublimation. Dry ice sublimates rapidly at room temperature.