| quench | 1. To extinguish; to overwhelm; to make an end of; said of flame and fire, of things burning, and figuratively of sensations and emotions; as, to quench flame; to quench a candle; to quench thirst, love, hate, etc. "Ere our blood shall quench that fire." (Shak) "The supposition of the lady's death Will quench the wonder of her infamy." (Shak) 2. To cool suddenly, as heated steel, in tempering. Synonym: To extinguish, still, stifle, allay, cool, check. Origin: OE. Quenchen, AS. Cwencan in acwencan, to extinguish utterly, causative of cwincan, acwincan, to decrease, disappear; cf. AS. Cwinan, acwinan, to waste or dwindle away. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| quenching | 1. The process of extinguishing, removing, or diminishing a physical property such as heat or light; e.g., the cooling of a hot metal rapidly by plunging it into water or oil. 2. In beta liquid scintillation counting, the shifting of the energy spectrum from a true to a lower energy; it is caused by a variety of interfering materials in the counting solution, including foreign chemicals and colouring agents. 3. The process of stopping a chemical or enzymatic reaction. Origin: M. E. Quenchen, fr. O.E. Acwencan Fluorescence quenching, a technique used in investigations dealing with binding of antigens (haptens) by purified antibodies, applicable in cases in which the bound antigen (hapten) absorbs (quenches) light emitted during fluorescence of protein (antibody) excited by ultraviolet light. (05 Mar 2000) |