heat sink

noun

Thermodynamics. any environment or medium that absorbs heat.

Also heat·sink. Electronics. a metallic heat exchanger designed to absorb and dissipate excess heat from one of the devices, as a transistor or resistor, in a circuit.

Origin of heat sink

First recorded in 1935–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for heat sink

heat sink

noun

a metal plate specially designed to conduct and radiate heat from an electrical component

a layer of material placed within the outer skin of high-speed aircraft to absorb heat

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

heat sink in Science

heat sink

A protective device that absorbs and dissipates the excess heat generated by a system.

An environment capable of absorbing heat from substances within it (and with which it is in thermal contact) without an appreciable change in its own temperature and without a change in its own phase.

heat sink in Culture

heat sink

A reservoir for excess heat, especially in a mechanical or electrical device.

Note

One obstacle to the loading of circuits onto microprocessors is the heat generated by electrical circuits. Effective heat sinks, such as metal fins on top of a microprocessor, can provide part of the solution to this problem.