English Explanatory Dictionary

quench

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To satisfy, especially a literal or figurative thirst.
  2. To extinguish or put out (as a fire or light).
  3. To cool rapidly by direct contact with liquid coolant, as a blacksmith quenching hot iron.
  4. To terminate or greatly diminish (a chemical reaction) by destroying or deforming the remaining reagents.
  5. To rapidly change the parameters of a physical system.
  6. To rapidly terminate the operation of a superconducting electromagnet by causing part or all of the magnet's windings to enter the normal, resistive state.
noun
  1. The act of quenching something; the fact of being quenched.
  2. The abnormal termination of operation of a superconducting magnet, occurring when part of the superconducting coil enters the normal (resistive) state.
  3. A rapid change of the parameters of a physical system.

Pronunciation

/kwɛnt͡ʃ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-quench.wav

Word forms

quench quenches quenching quenched quent

Etymology

From Middle English quenchen, from Old English cwenċan, from Proto-Germanic *kwankijaną.

Synonyms

appease slake

Derived words

dequench nonquenched nonquenching outquench prequench quenchability quenchable quenchcoal quencher quenchless quenchy requench squelch unquench unquenched
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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