supercool

[ soo-per-kool ]

/ ˌsu pərˈkul /

verb (used with object)

to cool (a liquid) below its freezing point without producing solidification or crystallization; undercool.

verb (used without object)

to become supercooled.

adjective

very cool in temperature, especially of the maximum coolness possible: used as a setting on air conditioners.

Slang. very cool; very sophisticated, up-to-date, unemotional, etc.

Nearby words

supercolumniation, supercomputer, superconductivity, superconductor, supercontinent, supercool, supercow, supercrat, supercritical, supercurrent, superdelegate

Origin of supercool

First recorded in 1905–10; super- + cool

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

Examples from the Web for supercooling

For any given degree of supercooling of a substance, the velocity of crystallization is constant.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications|Alexander Findlay

British Dictionary definitions for supercooling

supercool

/ (ˌsuːpəˈkuːl) /

verb

chem to cool or be cooled without freezing or crystallization to a temperature below that at which freezing or crystallization should occur. Supercooled liquids are not in equilibrium

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

Science definitions for supercooling

supercool

[ sōō′pər-kōōl′ ]

To cool a substance below a phase-transition temperature without the transition occurring. For example, water can be cooled well below the freezing point without freezing (as often happens in the upper atmosphere); the introduction of an impurity or surface can then trigger freezing. Supercooling is an example of hysteresis. Compare superheat.