The Oxford English Dictionary named "vape" - the word used for drawing on an electronic cigarette instead of a burning stick of tobacco – as its 2014 word of the year.

"You are thirty times more likely to come across the word 'vape' than you were two years ago, and usage has more than doubled in the past year," staff editors said Monday.

The 2013 word of the year was "selfie," describing the decidedly less controversial self-portrait taken with a smart phones.

The rise of e-cigarettes was cited as the reason for the skyrocketing use of the word - along with countless debates over the safety of using it long term.

The word appeared to peak this year in April, when New York City banned vaping indoors and the United Kingdom opened its first vape café, The Vape Lab in Shoreditch, London, according to the Oxford statement.

A 1983 article in New Society described the e-cigarette, which had not been invented, in as-yet hypothetical terms and appeared to be among the earliest references to the word vaping in that context, Oxford editors said.

It wasn't until 2009, however, that the term began to catch on, editors said.

OxfordDictionaries.com officially added the definition in August. The verb is defined as "to inhale and exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device."

A derivative of vapor or vaporizing, the word can also be a noun describing the action and the device.

The winner beat out a short list of runners up that included bae, a term for a beloved significant other.

The list also included budtender, a person who serves up cannabis in a shop or dispensary, and slacktivism, a combination of slacker and activism that describes supporting causes through low-level activities such a signing online petitions.

据外媒报道，日前牛津词典宣布电子水烟“vape”为2014年度新词。

牛津编辑部于17日表示，“比起两年前，我们现在使用‘vape’这个词的频率显著增加。2014年它的使用量翻了一番”。

2013年“selfie”以绝对优势获选“年度词汇”，意指“用智能手机自拍”。

电子水烟的流行和对长期吸这种烟是否安全的热议造成了“vape”一词使用频率的突增。

牛津词典编辑部称，2014年4月，纽约市宣布禁止室内吸电子烟，第一家电子水烟咖啡厅Vape Lab在伦敦肖尔迪奇区（Shoreditch）开业，这些将“vape”一词的使用推向顶峰。

他们还表示，“vaping”一词的首次使用可追溯到1983年《新社会》（New Society ）上的一篇文章。文中描述了那时还未问世的电子烟。

直到2009年，“vape”这个词才开始广泛流行。

“Vape”于2014年8月正式收入牛津在线词典。它可以用作动词，形容抽电子烟时吞云吐雾，也可以作为名词使用，指吸“电子水烟”这一行为或“电子水烟”这一器具。

其他候选词还包括“bae”，对亲密爱人的昵称；“budtender”，在商店或药房出售大麻的店员；及“slacktivism”，“懒人行动主义”，指通过网络渠道如在线签名请愿书来参与公众议题，但在实际生活中却缺少参与。