Definition of "quench" []

• To put out (a fire, for example); extinguish. (verb-transitive)
• To suppress; squelch: The disapproval of my colleagues quenched my enthusiasm for the plan. (verb-transitive)
• To put an end to; destroy. (verb-transitive)
• To slake; satisfy: Mineral water quenched our thirst. (verb-transitive)
• To cool (hot metal) by thrusting into water or other liquid. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In addition, superconductivity was not particularly well understood at the time, especially the effects that would cause a magnet to dramatically and suddenly lose its superconducting powers, a phenomenon known as a "quench" that is invariably accompanied by a loud bang and a scurry to find the exit as the magnetic energy is suddenly dissipated."
• "Coke comes out of the ovens at more than 1,000 degrees and goes to what's called a "quench tower" to be drenched with thousands of gallons of water."
• "But through an innovative use of a laboratory tool called a quench-flow machine-a machine that allows for extreme precision in the stopping, or "quenching," of a reaction-the team was able to look at what was going on over intervals of just 10 milliseconds in both yeast and human proteins."