supercool

[soo-per-kool]

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.

Origin of supercool

First recorded in 1905–10; super- + cool

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for supercooling

Historical Examples of 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

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

supercooling in Science

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.