▪ I. quench, n.
[f. the vb.]
1. The act of quenching; the state or fact of being quenched.
| 1529 More Dyaloge ii. Wks. 184/1 [To] lye and smolder as coles doth in quenche. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 9 A whyle kepe we in quenche All this Case. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xix. 365 A harmfull fire let runne..none came To giue it quench. 1818 T. Brown in Welsh Life vi. (1825) 389 The quench Of hope..Made even the ghastly change..Seem ghastlier. 1972 A. D. Franklin in Crawford & Slifkin Point Defects in Solids I. i. 33 The special property of ductility possessed by many metals allows thin wires to be drawn, which may be very rapidly quenched, at maximum cooling rates of 105 deg/sec or higher. With such rapid quenches, one may hope to retain the equilibrium defects present at the high quench temperature. |
2. Electronics. The process of stopping an oscillation, esp. in a superregenerative receiver; a signal used for this. Freq. attrib., as quench frequency, the frequency with which oscillations are stopped.
| 1938 Proc. IRE XXVI. 94 The use of a rectangular wave quench voltage would not be practicable in most applications of superregenerative receivers. Ibid. 96 In a given design of a separately quenched superregenerative receiver there is a particular quench frequency which gives maximum sensitivity. 1948 Electronics Sept. 98/3 This action..is eliminated by restricting the frequency content of the quench. 1950 J. R. Whitehead Super-Regenerative Receivers vii. 125 A super-regenerative receiver with grid quench and a.g.s. controlling the oscillator grid bias. 1959 G. Troup Masers vii. 118 A 600 c/s quench frequency was used. 1965 Wireless World July 336/2 Quench oscillators in super-regenerative receivers..have..set their own problems. 1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. ix. 56 Electron current flow is initiated by an rf input signal and is terminated at the end of the rf input signal either by a voltage pulse or a dc bias voltage applied to a quench electrode. |
▪ II. quench, v.
(kwɛnʃ)
Forms: 3 Orm. cwennkenn, 3–5 quenchen, 3–6 quenche, 4– quench, (also 4–5 qwench, whench, 5 quynche, 6 quence, -she, 7 quensh). pa. tense 3 cwen(ch)te, quein(c)te, 5 queynte, 6 qwent; 4– quenched (4–5 -id, -yd). pa. pple. 3 Orm. cwennkedd, (-enn), 4 ykuenct (-ȝt), -quenct, 4–5 (i)queynt, (5 yqueynte), 4–6 queint, quaynt, 6 quent; 4– quenched (4–5 -id, 5 -yd).
[Early ME. cwenken, quenchen:—OE. *cwęncan (cf. ácwęncan aquench):—*cwancjan, causative form corresponding to the strong vb. cwincan (ácwincan) to go out, be extinguished = Fris. kwinka (see quinkle): cf. drench, drink.]
I. trans.
1. a. To put out, extinguish (fire, flame, or light, lit. or fig.). † Also with out. Now rhet.
| a 1200 Moral Ode 249 Þet fur..ne mei nawiht hit quenchen. c 1200 Ormin 10126 Waterr hafeþþ mahht To sleckenn fir & cwennkenn. c 1320 Cast. Love 1708 Fyre that may not be queynte. 1340 Ayenb. 186 Huanne hit faileþ, þet uer is y-kuenct. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 119 Ȝif þe liȝt is i-queynt, it duppeþ doun and dryncheþ. 1481 Caxton Myrr. iii. xiii. 161 In one day alle the fyre thurgh out Rome faylled and was quenchid. 1581 Rich Farew., I..will not..extinguishe or quence the flames of so fervent and constaunte a love. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D' Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. viii. 142 Greene wood..smoakes most when the flame is quenched. 1622 Massinger & Dekker Virg. Mart. ii. iii, O! my admired mistress, quench not out The holy fires within you. 1713 Berkeley Guardian No. 35 ¶5 He had almost quenched that light which his Creator had set up in his soul. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. xi, Quench thou his light, Destruction dark! 1863 E. Wetherell Old Helmet (1864) I. xi. 230 In Africa they sit in the darkness of centuries, till almost the spark of humanity is quenched out. 1880 Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 49 A tear comes into either eye and quenches the fire there. |
b. To put out, extinguish, the fire or flame of (something that burns or gives light, lit. or fig.). † Also with away, out. Now only rhet.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Chron. xxix. 7 Thei..quencheden the lanterns. 1382 ― Isa. xlii. 3 Flax smokende he shal not quenchen. 1382 ― Eph. vi. 16 Ȝe mown quenche alle the firy dartis of the worste enmye. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle ii. lxi. (1859) 58 Wax smelleth wors after it is quenchid, than doth any talowe. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. ii. 60 The lycht of day Ay mair and mair the mone quenchit away. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xii. 71 He wyll not quenche out the smokyng flaxe. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 15 The winde-shak'd-Surge..Seemes to..quench the Guards of th'euer-fixed Pole. [1667 Milton P.L. xii. 492 Able to resist Satans assaults, and quench his fierie darts.] 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. xi, The..points of Sparkling Wood He quenched among the bubbling blood. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xxii, There stood the candle quenched on the drawers. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 392 As she turned..To quench the lamp. |
c. To destroy the sight or light of (the eye).
| 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 25 These eyes, that rowle in vain..So thick a drop serene hath quencht thir Orbs. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 137 When age has quenched the eye and closed the ear. 1850 Mrs. Browning Lam. for Adonis ii, His eyeballs lie quenched. |
d. Radio. To cause (the spark in a spark transmitter) to cease by mechanical means, so that the secondary (aerial) circuit is no longer coupled to the primary; hence, to stop (oscillation).
| 1910 G. W. Pierce Princ. Wireless Telegr. xxiii. 267 The spark is quenched when the energy in the primary attains its first minimum. 1913 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 232/2 The oscillatory current in the aerial, and therefore the wave-train radiated, continue long after the spark has been quenched. 1927 O. F. Brown Elements of Radio Communication iv. 53 The spark is produced between projecting studs on a rapidly revolving metal disc and two fixed electrodes... The rotation of the disc will rapidly increase the distance between the studs and the electrodes, so that the spark is quenched and the oscillation in the primary circuit ceases. 1938 Proc. IRE XXVI. 76 In a typical superregenerative receiver the regenerative coupling between the plate and grid circuits of the detector tube is great enough so that self-sustained oscillations are produced, and these oscillations are periodically quenched, by applying..an alternating voltage having a frequency much lower than that of the oscillations. 1959 G. Troup Masers vii. 117 These authors measured the noise figure of an ammonia maser amplifier operated superregeneratively: that is, oscillations were allowed to build up and then quenched. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. I. 362/1 A regenerative detector in which the oscillations are periodically stopped or quenched is called a superregenerative detector. |
2. a. To extinguish (heat or warmth, lit. or fig.) by cooling. † Also with out.
| 1406 Hoccleve La Male Regle 135 Heuy purs, with herte liberal, Qwenchith the thirsty hete of hertes drie. c 1410 ― Mother of God 28 That al the hete of brennyng Leccherie He qwenche in me. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 119 Heit..in to agit failȝeis, and is out quent. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D' Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. ix. 150 A kinde of cold so piercing, that it quencheth the vitall heate. 1884 Tennyson Becket ii. ii, Pity, my lord, that you have quenched the warmth of France toward you. |
b. To cool (a heated object) by means of cold water or other liquid.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xxxv. (1495) 250 Gotes mylke in the whyche stones of ryuers ben quenchyd. 1460–70 Bk. Quintessence 7 Þanne quenche ȝoure floreyn in þe beste whiȝt wiyn. 1584 Cogan Haven Health x. (1636) 34 [Rice]..boyled in Milke wherein hot stones have beene quenched. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 358 Hot Bricks, somewhat quenched with water. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) 61 Quench it in half a Pint of French white Wine. 1826 Scott Woodst. i, Was the steel quenched with water from Rosamond's well. |
| fig. 1719 Young Paraphr. Job Wks. 1757 I. 208 Who can refresh the burning sandy plain, And quench the summer with a waste of rain? |
† c. To slake (lime). Obs. rare.
| 1577 Harrison England ii. xii. (1877) i. 234 The white lime..being quenched. 1643 J. Steer tr. Exp. Chyrurg. i. 3 When Lyme is quenched..it is..heated. |
3. transf. a. To put an end to, stifle, suppress (a feeling, act, condition, quality, or other non-material thing, in early use chiefly something bad).
| c 1200 Ormin 4911 All idell ȝellp & idell ros þu cwennkesst. c 1325 Songs of Mercy in E.E.P. (1862) 120, I whenched al þi care. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16357 Louerd! þou quenche his wykkednesse. 1494 Fabyan Chron. v. xci. 67 In thyse Prouynces the faythe of Criste was all quenchyd. 1545 Brinklow Compl. iii. (1874) 16 How mercifully dyd God quench the fury of the peple. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 84 Quenching the least suspition he might conceiue. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ii. 340 All god-like passion for eternals quencht. 1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger ii. v. 81 The observance of this rule would soon quench the desire for protection. 1876 Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sc. vii. (ed. 2) 172 The final effect of the tides in stopping or quenching the earth's rotation. |
b. To slake (thirst) completely; † rarely, to satisfy or dispel (hunger).
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 201 Thus the thurst of gold was queynt. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) D ij b, His hunger is not thereby quenched. 1535 Coverdale Ps. ciii[i]. 11 That the wylde asses maye quench their thyrste. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 235 Stickle-backs..serve better to quench hunger, than to nourish. 1752 Young Brothers iv. i, Friends, sworn to..quench infernal thirst in kindred blood. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. I. 489 Where they could quench their thirst at a well of brackish water. |
† c. With personal object. Obs. rare.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 195 Being thus quench'd Of hope, not longing [etc.]. 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. ii, A botle of Ale, to quench mee, Rascal. |
d. Physics. To suppress (luminescence); hence, to de-excite (an atom that would otherwise give rise to this effect).
| 1928 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. XIV. 851 The results show that hydrogen quenches the resonance radiation of cadmium as effectively as it does that of mercury. 1932 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LIV. 572 The apparent decrease in quenching at high pressures or temperatures does not at all preclude the possibility that some fraction of the mercury atoms are being quenched to the normal state. 1954 C. Zwikker Physical Properties of Solid Materials xiii. 230 Fluorescence may be quenched by radiation, e.g. infra-red of too long a wavelength to excite fluorescence. The quenching photons raise electrons from the crystal lattice..to the copper ions..and thus inhibit the recombination effect. 1976 Sci. Amer. June 47/2 (Advt.), While the list of molecules which will react with 1O2 is growing rapidly, the list of molecules which will quench 1O2 back to O2 is much smaller. |
e. Physics and Chem. To suppress (the orbital angular momentum of an electron and the associated magnetic moment).
| 1932 J. H. Van Vleck Theory of Electric & Magn. Susceptibilities xi. 282 Solids or solutions in which inter⁓atomic forces quench the orbital angular momentum but leave the spin free. 1955 Townes & Schawlow Microwave Spectrosc. vii. 175 In nonlinear molecules, the orbital motion of electrons is almost completely ‘quenched’ or suppressed, and a spin momentum is the only angular momentum in the molecule of distinctly electronic origin. 1962 Cotton & Wilkinson Adv. Inorg. Chem. xxiv. 508 The electric fields of other atoms, ions, and molecules surrounding the metal ion in its compounds interfere with the orbital motion of the electrons so that the orbital angular momentum and hence the orbital moment are wholly or partially ‘quenched’. 1971 J. D. Patterson Introd. Theory of Solid State Physics iv. 240 The cubic field acts to ‘quench’ the orbital angular momentum. |
f. To prevent (the discharge in a Geiger counter) from continuing too long and reducing the possible counting rate; also with the counter as obj.
| 1940 Physical Rev. LVII. 1036/1 If we merely assure ourselves that the counter wire is falling somewhat below the starting potential with each discharge, then we can be sure that the discharge is quenched after the first stage and we will have a clean, fast pulse. 1942 Pollard & Davidson Applied Nucl. Physics iii. 30 A very common device to quench a counter is to employ a vacuum tube. 1958 O. R. Frisch Nucl. Handbk. xv. 14 The discriminator circuit used with Geiger counters..should provide facilities for quenching the counter for a period of several hundred microseconds after each pulse. 1963 W. E. Burcham Nuclear Physics vi. 218 It is the function of the alcohol in the gas filling to ‘quench’ the discharge. 1975 K. H. Goulding in Williams & Wilson Biologist's Guide to Princ. & Techniques Pract. Biochem. vi. 178 To overcome this, the tube is quenched by the addition of a suitable gas, which reduces the energy of the ions. |
4. a. To destroy, kill (a person); to oppress or crush. † Also with out. Now rare.
| c 1200 Ormin 19632 Þeȝȝ wolldenn himm forrfarenn all & cwennkenn. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 363 He wiþ his part þat loveþ þe world quenchen men þat speken þis. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 327 They constrewed quarellis to quenche the peple. 1567 Triall Treas. (1850) 44, I, Tyme,..quenche out the ungodly, their memory and fame. 1850 Dobell Roman iv. Poet. Wks. (1875) 54 Oh sea, if thou hast waves, Quench him! 1859 Tennyson Vivien 216 (67) His greatness whom she quench'd. |
| absol. c 1200 Ormin 15213 Swillc iss winess kinde, ȝiff..mann drinnkeþþ itt att oferrdon, itt cwennkeþþ. |
b. To put down (in a dispute), to squash.
| 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge ix, I knew I should quench her, said Tim. 1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women (1869) I. vi. 94 Jo quenched her by slamming down the window. |
† 5. To destroy some quality of (a thing). Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. vii. (1495) 556 Quycke syluer..is quenchyd wyth spotyll whanne it is frotyd therwyth. |
II. intr.
† 6. a. Of fire, a burning thing, etc.: To be extinguished, to go out, to cease to burn or shine. Obs.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 19/6 Heore liȝt queincte ouer-al. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1479 Right anon on of the fires queinte..And as it queinte, it made a whisteling. 1460 Lybeaus Disc. 1805 The torches that brende bryght Quenched anon ryght. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. xii. 121 Thair with all the naturall heit out quent. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxx. iv, Coales..which quickly fired, Flame very hott, very hardly quenching. 1623 Fletcher Bloody Brother iv. iii, Like a false star that quenches as it glides. |
† b. transf. Of non-material things: To come to an end, perish, disappear. Obs.
| c 1305 St. Edmund 111 in E.E.P. (1862) 74 Quenche miȝte hire fole þoȝt mid blod þat heo schadde. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5324 This love..wole faile, and quenche anoon. 1641 Milton Reform. Wks. 1738 I. 16 The Spirit daily quenching and dying in them. |
† c. Of a person: To cool down. Obs. rare—1.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. v. 47 Dost thou thinke in time She will not quench, and let instructions enter Where Folly now possesses. |
7. Physics. To change from the superconducting state to the non-superconducting state.
| 1969 Sci. Jrnl. Apr. 42/2 Increasing current is passed through the superconductor until the material ‘quenches’ (goes normal). 1975 Physics Bull. May 214/1 The normal metal (copper or combinations of copper and cupro⁓nickel) is still required to protect the conductor when it reaches the limit of its current carrying capacity and ‘quenches’ (ie undergoes a transition to the normal state). |
III. 8. Combs. (from sense 2 b): quench-ageing, changes in the properties of steel, notably hardening, which occur after the metal has been quenched from a high temperature (see quot. 1968); quench-cracking, fracture of a metal caused by thermal stresses during rapid cooling; quench-hardening, hardening of steel by heating it above a critical temperature for some time, quenching rapidly, and then allowing further slow cooling; also = quench-ageing above; so quench-harden v. trans.
| 1935 Trans. Amer. Soc. Metals XXIII. 1049 To one of the three most important examples of aging, found in practically all soft steels, the designation ‘Carbonizing’ has been given for purposes of this discussion. It has also been called ‘sub-critical quench-aging’. 1938 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXXXVIII. 247p The usual theory put forward to explain the process of quench-ageing, whether in steel or in any other age-hardening alloy, is that it is caused by the precipitation from super-saturated solid solution of particles of the solute in a highly dispersed form on the lattice of the solvent,..preliminary to precipitation. 1961 G. E. Dieter Mech. Metallurgy v. 137 Quench aging is a type of true precipitation hardening that occurs on quenching from the temperature of maximum solubility of carbon and nitrogen in ferrite. 1968 E. R. Petty Physical Metall. of Engin. Materials v. 92 These changes involve an increase in hardness, elastic limit and tensile strength, accompanied by a fall in ductility and impact resistance, and may occur in low carbon steels finished by rapid cooling from a softening temperature above 600°C or by cold working. In the former case the phenomenon is referred to as quench ageing while the latter is known as strain ageing. 1971 Engineering Apr. 20/1 The absence of the defects of material or liquation on the surface of the pins and journals is of particular importance..where these areas are to be hardened by flame or induction, as the risk of quench cracking is almost entirely eliminated. 1973 J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. I. vi. 172 There is usually a limiting rate of cooling from the outside for any given steel, beyond which it is impractical to go because too-rapid contraction from the outside may cause quench-cracking. |
| 1934 H. O'Neill Hardness of Metals & its Measurement vi. 201 Mehl..has reported that quench-hardening a pearlitic steel does not alter its compressibility. Ibid. 202 Ordinary quench-hardening practice by continuous rapid cooling to room temperatures will produce martensite if the rate is sufficient to preserve austenite down to Ar{pp}. 1961 G. E. Dieter Mech. Metallurgy v. 146 Quench hardening results in an increase in yield stress and a decrease in the rate of strain hardening. 1969 D. K. Allen Metallurgy Theory & Pract. vii. 194/2 Most all carbon steels can be quench-hardened but the hardness does not become appreciable until the carbon content..reaches about 0·35 percent. Ibid. 196/2 The second requirement for quench hardening is that the steel be heated to the recommended hardening temperature and held for a sufficient length of time to allow the steel to become fully austenitized. |
▪ III. quench
obs. variant of quince.