quenching - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
quenching (countable and uncountable, plural quenchings)
- (physics) The extinction of any of several physical properties.
- (metallurgy) The rapid cooling of a hot metal object, by placing it in a liquid, in order to harden it.
- (astronomy) A process in which a galaxy loses cold gas, thus strongly suppressing star formation.
- (botany) The dissipation of energy from light in excess of what can be used for photosynthesis.
- ✤ When a leaf is in full sunshine, it absorbs more light energy than its photosynthetic machinery can handle. This damages cells unless they turn on a mechanism known as quenching to dissipate the excess energy.1
- ✤ When a leaf is shaded, however, quenching has to be turned off to avoid dissipating energy that could be used.
Verb
quenching
- present participle and gerund of quench
Pronunciation
- (UK, US, Canada) IPA: /ˈkwɛn.t͡ʃɪŋ/
- (Australia) IPA: /ˈkwen.t͡ʃɪŋ/
- Rhymes: -ɛntʃɪŋ
Etymology 1
From Middle English quenchinge, equivalent to quench + -ing.
Etymology 2
From Middle English quenching, quenchyng, quenchand, quenchende, equivalent to quench + -ing.
Printed 2026-09-11.
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Footnotes
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2022 August 27, Michael Le Page, Genetic tweaking increases soy yield by upgrading photosynthesis, New Scientist, Issue 3401, page 16, ↩