refrigerant

[ri-frij-er-uh nt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR refrigerant ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

refrigerating; cooling.

reducing bodily heat or fever.

noun

a refrigerant agent, as a drug.

a liquid capable of vaporizing at a low temperature, as ammonia, used in mechanical refrigeration.

a cooling substance, as ice or solid carbon dioxide, used in a refrigerator.

Origin of refrigerant

1590–1600; < Latin refrīgerant- (stem of refrīgerāns), present participle of refrīgerāre. See refrigerate, -ant

Related formsnon·re·frig·er·ant, adjective, noun

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

Related Words for refrigerant

container, icebox

Examples from the Web for refrigerant

Historical Examples of refrigerant

Diuretic, febrifuge, and refrigerant; one half to one ounce.
Cattle and Their Diseases
Robert Jennings
It is a consideration, Sir Poet, which may serve as a refrigerant for their ardour.
Colloquies on Society
Robert Southey
Astringent and refrigerant; highly extolled in chronic dysentery, diarrha, English cholera, and relaxations generally.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I
Arnold Cooley
In these cases the application of refrigerant or sedative lotions, baths, &c., generally proves of much advantage.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I
Arnold Cooley
This serves as a refrigerant bath for the experiments to be made.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 821, Sep. 26, 1891
Various

British Dictionary definitions for refrigerant

refrigerant

noun

a fluid capable of changes of phase at low temperatures: used as the working fluid of a refrigerator

a cooling substance, such as ice or solid carbon dioxide

med an agent that provides a sensation of coolness or reduces fever

adjective

causing cooling or freezing

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

Word Origin and History for refrigerant

adj.

1590s, originally in medicine; from Latin refrigerans, present participle of refrigerare "make cool or cold" (see refrigeration). As a noun from 1670s.

refrigerant in Medicine

refrigerant

[rĭ-frĭj′ər-ənt]

adj.

Cooling or freezing; refrigerating.

Reducing fever.

n.

A substance, such as air, ammonia, water, or carbon dioxide, used to provide cooling either as the working substance of a refrigerator or by direct absorption of heat.

An agent used to reduce fever.

refrigerant in Science

refrigerant

[rĭ-frĭj′ər-ənt]

A substance, such as ice or ammonia, used to cool something by absorbing heat from it. Refrigerants are usually substances that evaporate quickly. In the process of evaporation they draw heat from surrounding substances.