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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of liquid air

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Also, unlike batteries, liquid air storage does not create a demand for rare earth minerals which may become increasingly scarce as the world moves towards power systems based on variable renewable electricity.

From BBC • Nov. 6, 2020

"We need many different forms of energy storage - and I'm confident liquid air will be one of them."

From BBC • Nov. 6, 2020

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

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

The first, the layer actually in contact with the liquid air, was to be made out of a highly conductive copper alloy.

From Scientific American • Apr. 28, 2012

It boils at a temperature far below the freezing-point of water, so that liquid air if placed in a cup made of ice will boil furiously.

From Marvels of Scientific Invention An Interesting Account in Non-technical Language of the Invention of Guns, Torpedoes, Submarine Mines, Up-to-date Smelting, Freezing, Colour Photography, and many other recent Discoveries of Science by Corbin, Thomas W.