Definition of "quenching" []

• The extinction of any of several physical properties. (noun)
• The rapid cooling of a hot metal object, by placing it in a liquid, in order to harden it. (noun)
• Present participle of quench. (verb)

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• "a deep thirst for knowledge which I hope to begin quenching next year at the"
• "Severstal engineers said the new line at its Dearborn, Mich., plant, which supplies Ford Motor Co. and other car makers, relies on a secret continuous-annealing formula that involves cooling steel with water—a process known as quenching—and then immediately reheating it."
• "Well ... as everyone who knows the properties of metals will tell you, heating a metal up (in this case potassium), then as quickly as possible cooling it down (this is called quenching), makes the metal form tiny crystals, and tiny is what we want."