Vapers Lingo/Vape Glossary: Vaping Terms in Plain Words

A vapers lingo/Vape Glossary is a list of short, plain definitions for the words people use about vape hardware, power, e-liquid, draw styles, and slang. Most of that lingo names one of four parts of a vape or what it does: the battery, the atomizer with its coil and wick, the e-liquid, and the mouthpiece.

Device types from disposables to box mods come first, then coil terms and the dry hits, flooding, and leaks that start at the coil. Power, draw styles, hit and taste, and the liquid with its nicotine strength follow. The 510 and 810 drip tip fittings, slang, US package words, and health words complete the set, written for adults 21 and older.

The Vape Terms You Hear Most Often

Twelve terms come up again and again in shop talk and on packaging.

Vape (e-cigarette): a battery-powered device that heats a liquid into an aerosol you inhale. The umbrella name used by FDA, and listed by CDC, is ENDS, short for electronic nicotine delivery systems.
E-liquid: the liquid a vape heats, usually propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine, and flavorings; vape juice means the same.
Coil: the part that heats, made of resistance wire or a mesh strip and rated in ohms (Ω); below 1.0 ohm it counts as sub-ohm.
Battery: the power source, most often a lithium-ion cell, rated for capacity in milliamp-hours (mAh).
Mod: first a modified flashlight or battery used for vaping; today the name fits almost any device bigger than a cig-a-like.
Tank: a refillable reservoir that holds e-liquid and feeds the coil.
Pod: the small cartridge-style reservoir of a pod device, refillable or prefilled.
Disposable: a one-piece, prefilled device you use up and throw away, usually sold without a charger.
Hit: short for throat hit, the feeling at the back of your throat after a puff.
Cloud: what you see when you breathe out; vapers say cloud or vapor.
MTL (mouth to lung): each draw goes into your mouth first and then into your lungs through tight airflow.
DTL (direct to lung): one breath goes straight into your lungs through an open draw, usually at higher power.

Device Types From Disposables to Box Mods

Three generations of device types appear in a 2018 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: cig-a-likes and early pens; pens and tank systems with a clearomizer; and adjustable, often rebuildable box-shaped mods.

Cig-a-like: shaped like a cigarette, with fixed power and screw-on prefilled cartridges.
Vape pen: a slim, pen-sized device with a small pod or a screw-on tank.
Pod system (pod kit): a compact device with a built-in battery and a removable pod that holds the e-liquid and usually the coil; most fire when you inhale.
Closed and open pods: closed pods fit only their own device and usually come prefilled; open pods you fill yourself.
Box mod (regulated mod): a box-shaped device whose chip controls power and protects the battery.
APV (advanced personal vaporizer): a second- or third-generation device with adjustable voltage or wattage.
Starter kit: a box with the basics, which typically means a battery, an atomizer, a charger, and instructions.

Mech mods have no electronics and no safeguards. Manufacturers say they are only for people who understand battery safety, and the same 2018 report found the risk of explosion significantly increased with user-modified devices. A squonk mod feeds the atomizer from a squeezable bottle built into the device. Getting rid of a used disposable is a separate topic, covered on our disposal page.

Atomizer and Coil Terms

FDA describes the atomizer as the part that turns e-liquid into vapor for inhalation, and it holds the coil and the wick.

Cartomizer: a disposable unit that combines the coil with the liquid supply.
Clearomizer: a see-through cartomizer that shows how much e-liquid is left, usually holding 3 to 6 mL.
Cartridge: the first-generation mouthpiece and reservoir in one piece, holding about 1 mL.
Sub-ohm tank: a tank built for sub-ohm coils, made for higher wattage and bigger clouds.
Mesh coil: a coil made from a flat, perforated metal strip in place of round wire. Manufacturers say it heats more evenly; promises of better flavor are marketing claims.
Wick: the material that carries e-liquid to the coil, most often cotton.
Single and dual coil: one coil or two; two 0.4-ohm coils sharing the load read 0.2 ohms. Our single vs dual coil page compares them.

Rebuildables have their own acronyms. RBA means any atomizer you fit with your own coil and wick, RDA means rebuildable dripping atomizer, RTA is a rebuildable tank atomizer, and an RDTA combines a dripping deck with a tank. Coil wire names include Kanthal, nichrome, stainless steel, nickel, and titanium; the last two work in temperature-control mode only. Manufacturers describe rebuilding as work for experienced vapers, so these terms come without build steps.

Dry Hits, Flooding, and Leaks

Most problem words describe too little e-liquid at the coil or too much of it. When the coil gets too little e-liquid, the puff tastes harsh and burnt, and vapers call that a dry hit or dry puff. In a 2015 lab study, dry puffs carried 30 to 250 times more aldehydes than normal puffs, and every experienced vaper in the test noticed them.

Burnt hits are dry hits that have scorched the wick, and a burnt or fading taste is the main sign that a coil needs replacing. Priming means soaking a new coil's wick with e-liquid and waiting about five minutes before the first hit.

At the other end, flooding means too much e-liquid in the coil. It shows up as gurgling, a bubbling sound; as spitback, hot droplets reaching your lips; or as leaking from a tank or pod. In sub-ohm tanks, all three are linked to thin, PG-heavy liquid, and a filled tank left unused for a long time is more likely to flood or leak.

Ohms, Watts, Volts, and mAh

An ohm (Ω) is the unit of a coil's electrical resistance. A coil rated under 1.0 ohm is a sub-ohm coil; it raises power output and produces bigger clouds.

Wattage (W) is the power sent to the coil. In variable wattage mode (VW) you set watts, and in variable voltage mode (VV) you set volts. Amps (A) measure current.

Ohm's law links these units: current equals voltage divided by resistance (I = V/R), and power equals voltage times current (P = V × I). At the same voltage, halving the resistance doubles the current and the power, which is why low-resistance coils pair with higher-power devices.

Each coil has its own power range, printed on the box and often engraved on the coil, and makers advise starting at the low end. Temperature control (TC) holds a set coil temperature and needs nickel, titanium, or stainless steel wire.

The battery cells called 18650 and 21700 take their names from their size in millimeters, 18 × 65 mm and 21 × 70 mm. Their capacity is given in mAh (milliamp-hours), the charge a cell holds. Thermal runaway is a self-heating lithium battery failure that can lead to fire; our battery safety page explains handling and charging.

Mouth to Lung, Direct to Lung, and the Draw

Mouth to lung (MTL) is a two-step draw, first into the mouth and then the lungs, with tight airflow, a higher-resistance coil, and low power. Direct to lung (DTL) is one deep breath straight into the lungs, with open airflow, a sub-ohm coil, and much higher power.

RDL, or restricted direct to lung, is a direct-to-lung draw through partly closed airflow at moderate power. MTL coils typically sit around 1.0 ohm or higher, yet some pod coils sold for MTL run at 0.6 to 0.8 ohms, so airflow and power tell the styles apart better than any single number.

Draw is the pull you feel through the mouthpiece, tight or loose, and airflow is how air reaches the atomizer, usually set with a ring or slider. An auto-draw device fires when you inhale, as most pod systems do, while a button-fire device needs a press. Our MTL vs DTL page compares the two styles.

How the Hit and Taste Are Described

Throat hit and taste are described with a few set terms. Throat hit gets stronger with higher nicotine strength, more PG, and some flavorings, while nicotine salt gives much less of it than freebase.

Cloud chasing means vaping to make very large clouds, usually with high-VG liquid and sub-ohm coils on a mod. Flavor chasing is the opposite goal: setting up a device for the most flavor.

Ghosting is when the previous flavor still shows after you refill with a new one, because some of it lingers in the coil. Coil makers treat a change of flavor as a reason to clean the atomizer or fit a new coil.

PG, VG, Ratios, and Nicotine Salt

Most e-liquid starts from a base liquid of PG, VG, or both, with nicotine and flavorings added.

PG (propylene glycol): a thin base that carries flavor well and gives a stronger throat hit.
VG (vegetable glycerin): a thick base with little throat hit, suited to higher-wattage vaping.
PG/VG ratio: PG comes first, so 30/70 means 30% PG and 70% VG.
Ratio and coil: manufacturers pair MTL coils with about 50/50 and the lowest-resistance DTL coils with blends around 60 to 70% VG, and the same manufacturers say most liquids sit near 50/50.

Nicotine salt (nic salt) is nicotine in salt form, made by adding an organic acid. CDC explains that the salt form removes the harshness of freebase nicotine, the traditional form, so users can inhale high levels of nicotine.

Steeping means letting a bottle sit for days or weeks so the flavors blend, and zero nic is e-liquid without nicotine. Keep every bottle out of reach of children and pets; our page on swallowed vape juice says what to do after an accident.

What Does the Nicotine Strength on a Bottle Mean?

The number is the nicotine strength: milligrams of nicotine in each milliliter of e-liquid. On US bottles sold in November 2026, it appears as mg/mL or as a percent, next to the required nicotine warning. Strength and volume together give the total, so a 2 mL pod at 50 mg/mL holds 100 mg of nicotine.

In manufacturers' charts, freebase liquids of about 3 to 6 mg/mL go with sub-ohm tanks, while nicotine salts of 20 to 50 mg/mL go with low-power pods only. The charts describe product design and do not tell you which strength to use.

510 and 810 Fittings, Drip Tips, and Other Parts

The drip tip, or mouthpiece, is the part you inhale from: a hollow tube attached to the atomizer. FDA lists drip tips and mouthpieces among the vape parts it regulates, and our drip tip guide goes into materials and shapes.

The 510 fitting is the industry-standard threaded connection between many atomizers and devices, and it is also the standard size for smaller drip tips. The 810 fitting is the larger drip tip standard, wider at the base and bore and usually found on high-wattage atomizers. Both numbers are names and do not give a size in millimeters.

Pass-through devices can be vaped while they are plugged in and charging.

Vape Slang and Community Words

Slang and other community words come from shops, forums, and brand glossaries, so meanings vary a little.

Analog: a regular lit cigarette.
ADV (all-day vape): a flavor you could use all day without getting bored of it.
Atty: short for atomizer.
Noob: someone new to vaping.
Modder: someone who designs or builds vaping devices of their own.
Sub-ohming: vaping on sub-ohm coils.
Dripper: an RDA, named for the drops of e-liquid put straight on its coil.
Chain vaping: taking one hit after another in quick succession with little pause.

Words Printed on a US Package

A few words printed on a US vape package carry a fixed legal or technical meaning.

Nicotine warning: the required statement on the package and in ads, "WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical."
Authorized: FDA has issued a marketing granted order through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pathway, the order a new vape needs to be sold legally. FDA authorizes and does not approve; in its words, authorization "does not mean these products are safe, nor are they 'FDA approved.'"
Child-resistant: refill bottles must be child-resistant under a federal rule in force since July 26, 2016, and their flow restrictor releases no more than 2 mL at a time.
21+: the federal minimum age to buy any tobacco product, vapes included, since December 20, 2019; our age page has the details.
Puff count: on disposables, the maker's estimate of puffs per device, which is not a standardized measure.

Health Words You May Hear

Health words in vaping talk run from slang to medical terms. Nic sick is slang for feeling nauseous or dizzy after too much nicotine, and the medical term is nicotine poisoning: symptoms include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headache, and severe cases can bring seizures and trouble breathing. Our nicotine poisoning page covers it in full.

The Poison Help line, 1-800-222-1222, is free, confidential, and open around the clock, according to America's Poison Centers (as of October 2026), and you do not need an emergency to call it. If someone has collapsed or is not breathing, call 911 right away.

EVALI stands for e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury, the 2019–2020 outbreak that CDC strongly linked to vitamin E acetate in THC vaping products, mostly from informal sources. Secondhand aerosol is what people nearby breathe in; the 2016 Surgeon General's report found that it is not harmless. FDA counts vapes among tobacco products and says none of them is safe.

A Quick Way to Read a Label or a Forum Post

Three quick steps sort out most new words on a label or in a forum post.

Place the word in its group: the device itself, the atomizer and coil, problem, power, inhale style, hit and taste, liquid, or slang.
Match the unit to the part: Ω for coils, W for power settings, mAh for batteries, and mg/mL for nicotine strength.
Read slang as shop talk, and take safety or legal questions to official health sources or to our age and battery safety pages.

How We Sourced These Definitions

We sourced these definitions in November 2026 by comparing our wording with 8 vaping glossaries published by shops and device brands, then wrote each entry ourselves. Hardware terms follow brand manuals and a 2018 expert report on vaping devices; label and health terms follow FDA and CDC usage. Treat slang entries as usage notes.

Questions About Commonly Misread Terms

Does vape lingo match the words FDA and CDC use?

Partly. CDC's list of names includes vape, vape pen, e-juice, and vape juice alongside the formal e-cigarette. Slang such as atty or ADV comes from shop and maker glossaries, where meanings vary.

Does nicotine salt mean the liquid tastes salty?

No. Salt is a chemistry word here for nicotine combined with an organic acid, such as the benzoic acid in a randomized trial published in 2021. In that trial, adult users rated salt formulas significantly less harsh than freebase for every flavor except chocolate.

Is vapor the right word, or aerosol?

Both are in use. CDC calls the exhaled cloud an aerosol, while FDA's parts list says the atomizer turns e-liquid into vapor. CDC also stresses that the cloud is not harmless water vapor, since it can contain nicotine, ultrafine particles, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead.

Is 5% nicotine the same as 50 mg/mL?

Roughly. The usual shortcut divides the strength by 10 to get a percent, so 50 mg/mL is about 5% and 6 mg/mL about 0.6%. A percent by weight or by volume shifts the figure, so compare products by mg/mL when a label shows both.

Is the puff count on a disposable an exact measure?

No. In a 2015 lab study, the nicotine delivered by 15 puffs differed more than 50-fold depending on puff length, power, and liquid strength. The National Academies also concluded that nicotine exposure varies with the product and how it is used.

Why do vapers say vape instead of smoke?

Because nothing is lit. CDC describes e-cigarettes as battery-operated devices that heat a liquid and produce an aerosol that the user inhales. Smoke comes from a burning cigarette, which vape slang calls an analog.