Vaping Terms Dictionary – Complete Glossary [A-Z]

The Vape Glossary. The biggest source for vape terms and terminology.

There are many people talking about electronic cigarettes nowadays. Many vapers speak in acronyms and abbreviations for a longer word or a set of words related to vaping. These are considered Vaping Terms.

Take for instance “ECig” or “E-Cig”, that person is referring to an “Electronic Cigarette“. But who has the time or the breath to waste on that? We feel your frustration with the E-Cig community. That’s why we have created the vape dictionary of all the old and new E-Cig vaping terms to be discovered.

Be sure to “bookmark us” and return for all your electronic cigarette terms.

Vaping Terms

Each set of terms is categorized under their appropriate letter. If you know what your looking for you can skip to that section.

- A to Z
A Letter A - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Adjustable Power - The ability to change the wattage or voltage. Found on advanced box mods
Adjustable Voltage - The ability to change the Voltage. Found on advanced box mods.
Adjustable Wattage - The ability to change the wattage. Found on advanced box mods.
Advanced Personal Vaporizer - More advanced ecig mod. A mod with a processing chip. Will include features for adjusting voltage, wattage, temperature.
AFC - Air Flow Control. Tanks and rebuildables often have an option to Adjust this setting.
Alien Coil - Three wires strands wrapped with a single wire strand
Allen Key - A small wrench included with many rebuildables for unscrewing and clamping coils.
All Day Vape (ADV) - A persons preferred E-Cig device, favorite e-liquid flavor, or piece of hardware
American Wire Gauge (AWG) - Coil wire diameter size (ASTM Standard). Wire width. Higher gauge number means a smaller diameter of wire.
Amps - The amount of energy supplied by the Mod. The amount of energy draw supplied by an E-Cig Battery.
Analog Ecig - An electronic cigarette where you have to push a button to vape.
APV - Short for "Advanced Personal Vaporizer" See Advanced Personal Vaporizer Definition
Atomizer - A unit that sits on top of a tank or inside a cartridge. Its function is to provide heat to eLiquid which allows vaporization. Sometimes referred to as the cartridge itself.
Atty - The vaping abbreviation for atomizer, atomiser. See definition: Atomizer.
Automatic E-Cig - Inhale to activate firing instead of pushing a button. A mod that senses air movement as a firing mechanism instead of a button fire trigger.
B Letter B - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Battery - A power cell. Usually rechargeable. Interchangeable but sometimes built in to Box Mods.
BCC - Bottom Coil Clearomizer or tank.
BDC - Bottom Dual Coil Clearomizer or tank.
Beginners Kit - Geared at ease of use for beginners. An electronic cigarette kit that includes everything you need to take at least one puff.
Bottom Feeder - A atomizer or clearo where the coils sit on the bottom of the tank or setup. Juice has to flow down instead of up.
Box Mod - A vaping device that is shaped like a box. The part of the vaping setup which is the base unit, battery and controls. With the evolving market the shapes have expanded to not just rectangles.
Breathing - Leaving the cap off of the E-Liquid for a short amount of time to let alcohol in the flavor evaporate.
Bridge - The part of an atomizer that delivers eliquid to the coils.
BT - Vaping Abbreviation for "Big Tobacco" companies.
BVC - Short for "Bottom Vertical Coil" - Clearomizers or cartridges with vertical coils. The air flows up the center of the coil instead of around.
Bypass Mode - A feature only found on regulated mods. Allows you to by pass the advanced mods circuitry and utilize the mod as a mechanical mod.
C Letter C - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Cartomizers (Carto) - A cartridge or replacement atomizer that contains cotton wick, coil, and sometimes e-liquid. Other spellings: cartomiser
Cartridge - A unit that hold eLiquid and sometimes the atomizer. Cartridges are generally disposable replacement parts and most commonly associated with Clearomizers.
Catch Cup - The area around the mod that catches stray drips and leaks.
Ceramic Coil - Used in place of conventional wire as the heating element. Provides longer life and reusability.
Chimney - The part of an atomizer or tank which provides a clear air passage from the base of the coils to the mouth piece.
Chip Set - A circuit board in a vape mod that controls the units functions. Not limited to power output, short circuit, heat, etc.
Cig-A-Like - A vaping pen. A vaping device made to look like a combustible cigarette. Alternative spellings: cigalike, cig-alike. Slang: Pen Style, vape pen
Clapton Coil - A string of wire wrapped around another wire. Used by coil builders.
Clearomizers - Tanks that hold eLiquid and an atomizer. The atomizer is generally a replaceable part of the Clearomizer.
Clone - Replication of another product. Usually found cheaper then the original.
Cloud Chasing - A term used to describe electronic cigarette builders who care about nothing else but producing the largest clouds possible.
Clouds - Term used to describe the look of E-Cig Vapor.
Coil Jig - A rod or mechanism used for building coils.
Coils - A component inside of an atomizer. The part of the unit that deliver the power and is in contact with cotton or eLiquid. Usually made from various types of metal.
Core - The atomizer and its coil and wicking components. Can be replaceable or none replaceable.
Cotton Wick - Used for transferring eLiquid to the atomizer. Usually sits inside a coil. Safer alternative to Silica Wicks.
Custom Mod - A DIY mod. Hand made e-cig.
Cutoff - A safety feature build into a mod. Limits the firing of power to 10 seconds maximum(may vary). Also spelled: Cut-Off.
D Letter D - Electronic Cigarette Terms
DCC - Dual coil cartomizer. Often used to describe a disposable cartridge for a vape pen.
Deck - The base of a rebuildable electronic cigarette. Usually holds a coil build. Contains positive and negative connection terminals
Dewick - Removing of the wicking material from the coil.
Disposable E-Cigs - A non-rechargeable electronic cig.
DIY eJuice - Making your own e-Juice. E-Juice also known as: E-Liquid, Vape Juice.
DL - Direct Lung Hit. Inhaling vapor directly to lung instead of holding in the mouth first. Also abbreviated DTL.
DNA Mod - An advanced mod that utilizes a DNA chip.
Drip Kit - Similar to a Starter Kit. Contains many of the parts to get started dripping.
Drip Tip - A mouth piece. This unit fits on to an atomizer.
Drip Well - The area around the base of a rebuildable atomizer. Holds eliquid.
Dripping - Applying eliquid in the form of drops directly on to the coil of an atomizer.
Drop In Coil - Replacement Coil for Tanks(Sub Ohm & Clearomizer). Pre-built coils. A term coined by the ECF(Electronic Cigarette Forum) in 2014.
Dry Burn - Firing of the atomizer to clean the residue from the coil. Can be done with wick on or dewicked.
Dry Hit - A harsh drag usually caused by the absence of eliquid or high temperatures.
DTL - Direct to lung. Taking a lung hit. Not allowing your mouth to take in the vapor but rather the flexing of the lung.
Dual Coil - Two coils. A common configuration for atomizers. Made from metal and is in contact with cotton or eLiquid.
E Letter E - Electronic Cigarette Terms
ECF - E-Cigarette Forum: A large online community where vape users can go to ask questions and share information.
E-Cig - An electronic cigarette. A Box Mod. A Vape Pen.
E-Cigar - a vape mod that is constructed form of and looks like a cigar.
E-Hookah - An E-Cig, May have slightly higher flavor concentration.
E-Pipe - a vape mod that is constructed form of and looks like a tobacco pipe.
Electronic Cigarette - A device used to vaporize liquid into vapor. A Box Mod. A Vape Pen.
E-Liquid - A liquid substance sometimes containing nicotine. Additives include flavor extract, Vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol. VG/PG
EV - An electronic vaporizer. Another name for an electronic cigarette.
F Letter F - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Firing button - A button on a box mod that allows the power to transfer to the atomizer.
Flavor Chasing - A term used to describe electronic cigarette builders who care about nothing else but producing the best flavor possible.
Flooding - Leaking or over filling a tank, rebuildable, or atomizer. E-liquid gets into the air passages and causes a sound.
Fused Clapton Coil - Two strands of wired wrapped by one single strand of wire. Used by coil builders.
G Letter G - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Glassomizer - A Clearomizer with a glass tank. Glassomizer is generally another term for Clearomizer with no distinction.
Gold Plated Connection - Gold plating is used to transfer power more rapidly. Gold plating can be found on the doors and pin connector for the atomizer.
Gurgling - A sound made from an atomizer or clearo. E-juice that is trapped in the air flow passage. Caused by overfilling or leaking.
H Letter H - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Head - A less common term used to describe the ecig atomizer or clearo.
Heatsink - Metal fins designed disperse heat away from a device and keep it cooler.
Hot Spot - A term used in coil building. When the coil burns unevenly it usually will not wick efficiently and cause dry hits.
Hybrid Mechanical Mod - Reduces firing latency. A Mechanical Mod where by attaching an attomizer screws down directly to the positive or negative terminal.
I Letter I - Electronic Cigarette Terms
ICR – Lithium Ion Cobalt Rechargeable Battery.
IMR – Lithium Ion Manganese Rechargeable Battery.
J Letter J - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Joules - A Measurement of power.
Juice - Vaping liquid for an ecig. Another term for eliquid or eJuice.
K Letter K - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Kanthal Wire - A common wire used in the rebuilding of e cig coils. Iron-chromium-aluminum alloy, FeCrAl.
Kick - A piece of hardware or circuit chip used to modify the wattage produced by a battery in a mechanical mod. Hits like a new battery every time.
L Letter L - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Loaded Pin Spring Connector - The part on the vape mod that makes a connection with your atomizer. Sits between the threaded connection.
LR - Low Resistance. A term used in coils for building or rating an atomizers coil. Lower Resistance heats up faster but takes more power to heat. Depletes battery quicker.
Lung Hit - A form of inhale where the inhale is done by the lung and not the mouth. Also abbreviated DTL (Direct-to-Lung)
M Letter M - Electronic Cigarette Terms
mAh - (Milli Ampere Hour) Battery life capacity. A term used to describe the longevity of an ECig battery.
Manual Ecig - An electronic cigarette where you don’t have to push a button to vape. It auto senses an inhale.
Mech Mod - Vaping Abbreviation for "Mechanical Mod".
Mechanical Mod - A vape mod with no power regulation. As the battery drains so does the power transferred.
Mouth Hit - A form of inhale where your mouth takes in the vaper. Held for a second before being inhaled to the lung.
MTL (mouth to lung) - A form of inhale where the vaper is held in the mouth for a split second before being inhaled to the lung. Also Abbreviated: M2L
N Letter N - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Nic - Short for nicotine found in eliquid.
Nic Salts - A form of nicotine solution. Used in the making of E-Liquid to produce "light" or "harsh" throat hits from vapor production. Does not contain actual salt.
Nicked Out - Overdosing or a sick feeling from too much nicotine in eliquid. Uneasy feeling from vaping too frequently.
Nicotine - A drug. An optional additive used in making eliquid. Concentrated nicotine can be found at ecig retailers.
No-Nic - E-Liquids that do not contain nicotine additive (0 mg)
O Letter O - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Ohm - A measure of resistance. Commonly used in coil building.
Organic Cotton - A cleaner form of cotton used for ecig wicks
P Letter P - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Parallel Batteries - A vaping device where the batteries are wired in parallel. Increases battery life.
Passthrough - A vaping device where you can vape while the ecig in plugged in and charging. Bypass battery. (Pass through, Pass-through)
PCC - Personal Charging Case. A device for charging your ecig on the go.
Pen Style - A vaping device that is long, round and skinny. Resembles a pen. Slang: Cig-A-Like, vape pen
PG - Propylene Glycol. Used as an additive in eliquid.
Pod System - A small vaping unit designed for ease of travel. Traditionally long and skinny. Pods are replaceable or refillable. Battery and unit are light weight.
Priming - Preparing new coils or wicks. Adding a few drop of eliquid to the wick and or deck to give the material an initial soak. Prevent first dry hits or burning taste.
Protected Battery - A battery with a built in safety mechanism in case of failure. Circuitry.
Pull - Taking a puff or inhale off of a vaping device.
PWM - Plus With Modulation. Delivers wattage in pulses instead of constant voltage or wattage.
Q Letter Q - Electronic Cigarette Terms
R Letter R - Electronic Cigarette Terms
RBA – The vaping abbreviation for “Rebuildable Atomizer”.
RDA – The vaping abbreviation for “Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer”.
RDTA – The vaping abbreviation for “Rebuildable Drip Tank Atomizer”.
Rebuildable - The ability to rebuild an electronic cigarette component. Commonly referred to in atomizers.
Rebuildable Atomizer - The ability to rebuild an atomizers. Not specific to any one type of atomizer
Rebuildable Drip Tank Atomizer - An atomizer that can be Rebuilt. This atomizer can be dripped on and has a tank for eLiquid storage.
Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer - An atomizer that can be Rebuilt. This atomizer can be dripped on with eLiquid.
Rebuildable Tank Atomizer - An atomizer that can be Rebuilt. This atomizer a tank for eLiquid storage.
Regulated Mod - A mod with a circuit chip, chipset, or processor. Used to regulate voltage or watts and adds other additional features such as safety and temperature control
Replacement Cartridge - Pre-built coil that usually contains wicking material. Purchasing a pre-made coil for a Tank or Clearomizer.
Replacement Coil - Pre-built coil. Purchasing a pre-made coil for a tank or RDA. Replacement coils for RDAs are not wicked.
Resistance - A measurement of ohms. Commonly targeted in the building of coils. Can be calculated based on the size and number of wire wraps.
Resistance Wire - A term used to refer to wire used in atomizer builds. Resistance effects vapor production and battery life.
Ribbon Wire - Flat wire. Focuses on higher surface area to enhance the flavor and cloud mass performance of E-Liquid.
RSST – Vaping abbreviation for "Rebuildable Stainless Steel Tank"
RTA – The Vaping abbreviation for “Rebuildable Tank Atomizer”
S Letter S - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Silica Wick - Used for transferring eLiquid to the atomizer. Usually sits inside a coil. Contains fiber glass. See Cotton Wicks.
Squonk - Squonking is having a separate bottle of juice in your mod. Squeeze it to replenish your atomizers wicks.
Stainless Steel Mesh - Used for build wicks. An alternative to cotton or silica.
Starter Kit - A kit that involves at least one base unit and atomizer. This term ignores a vapers experience. See Beginners kit.
Steeping - Letting your eLiquid breath. The process of leaving the cap off your eLiquid for a short amount of time to enhance its flavor.
Sub-Ohming - Vaping at very low ohms in order to produce a high cloud density. Using low resistance coil builds to create bigger vapor clouds.
Sweet Spot - A vapers term for finding the perfect amount of flavor and throat hit based on a power setting.
T Letter T - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Tail piping – Directly dripping on the atomizer and then inhaling without a drip tip.
Tank - A reservoir for holding eJuice. Housing for an atomizer.
Temperature Control - The ability to set the temperature of a coil. Most commonly used in conjunction with Nickel, Stainless, and Titanium coils.
THR - A vaping abbreviation for "Tobacco Harm Reduction" See Tobacco Harm Reduction
Threading - The type of connection used for attaching a tank, cartomizer, atomizer to a vaping device. Usually represented by a number.
Throat Hit - The sensation your throat feels while taking an ecig draw. Examples: Harsh, hard, solid, perfect, light.
Tobacco Harm Reduction - The movement to less harmful nicotine products.
Toot - Taking a draw from an electronic cigarette.
Topper - Usually your attomizer or tank. The part that goes on top of your base device or battery.
Trigger - A larger longer button on a box mod that allows the power to transfer to the atomizer. Can be squeezed instead of pressed.
Tube Mod - A term used to describe the shape of a mod.
U Letter U - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Unicorn Bottle – Typically long and skinny. Liquid is dispensed through a sharper tip. Easier for dripping and hard to fill tanks.
Unprotected Battery – A type of battery without protection.
Unregulated Mod - A mechanical mod. Relies on the current voltage of the battery contained.
USB Charging - Charging your electronic cigarette with a USB Cable. The ability to charge your E-Cig Device via USB Wire.
USB Passthrough – A function or feature of a vaping device. Allows the user to vape while it charges through the USB cord.
V Letter V - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Vape Pen - An Electronic Cigarette that resembles a pen in shape in weight. Styled like a traditional Pen. Slang: Cig-A-Like
Vape Mod - Another name for box mod. The base or battery unit of a vaping setup or starter kit.
Vaper - A Person who vapes
Vapers Tongue - The inability to taste or feel the flavor of your eliquid. Usually temporarily.
Vaporizer - A device used to vaporize dry herbs. A word commonly confused with E-Cigs. While E-Cigs do vaporize it is not a term used to advertise/market E-Cigs.
Vent Holes - Holes in the casing of a base units mod. Vents the battery in case of battery malfunction.
VG - Vegetable Glycerin. Used as an additive in eliquid.
VV - Variable Voltage. The ability to control a vape devices voltage.
VW - Variable Wattage. The ability to control a vape devices Wattage.
W Letter W - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Watt - An increment of wattage.
Wattage - A measure of output on an ecig device. Wattage is adjustable on advance E-Cigs.
Wick - The material that sits around or inside of a vaping coil. Used to transfer eliquid to the coil. Usually cotton or silica.
Wire - A material that is used for the composition of coils.
Wrap - A term used in coil building. A singe loop or revolution around a rod.
X Letter X - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Y Letter Y - Electronic Cigarette Terms
Z Letter Z - Electronic Cigarette Terms

We hope that you have enjoyed this complete glossary of vaping terms.

Vapes Beginners

Having a list of vape terms to refer back to may be helpful on your journey into the ECig world. If you have found this glossary of vape terms helpful please go and check out our beginners to vaping article section.

New to vaping? Now that you have a firm grasp on vape terms you may need some help choosing between “beginner products” and “advanced products“. Check out our guide on beginner products.

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