liquid air

American  

noun

1. a pale blue, intensely cold liquid, obtained by the compression and cooling of air: used as a source of oxygen, nitrogen, and inert gases, and as a refrigerant.

---

liquid air British  

noun

1. air that has been liquefied by cooling. It is a pale blue and consists mainly of liquid oxygen (boiling pt: –182.9°C) and liquid nitrogen (boiling pt: –195.7°C): used in the production of pure oxygen, nitrogen, and the inert gases, and as a refrigerant

---

Etymology

Origin of liquid air

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

"But they are too expensive to do long-term energy storage. That's where liquid air comes in."

From BBC • Nov. 6, 2020

Work is beginning on what is thought to be the world's first major plant to store energy in the form of liquid air.

From BBC • Nov. 6, 2020

Argon, neon, krypton, and xenon come from the fractional distillation of liquid air.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

The liquid air would travel into a vacuum sealed helix made of three layers separated by only a millimeter of space.

From Scientific American • Apr. 28, 2012

By cooling it with liquid air Sir W. Ramsay and H.S.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3 "Borgia, Lucrezia" to "Bradford, John" by Various