Meaning & use
overcooling
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Meanings
noununcountabletechnical
The act or result of lowering the temperature of a space, machine or substance further than is needed or wanted.
Grammar: Usually has no article: overcooling wastes energy.
Patterns
- overcooling of something
- overcooling in something
Overcooling in the office meant staff kept sweaters at their desks even in July.
The engineer blamed the faulty thermostat for the overcooling of the server room.
Overcooling of the fruit caused dark patches to form on the skin.
noununcountablephysicstechnical
In physics and metallurgy, the cooling of a liquid below its normal freezing point before it solidifies.
Grammar: Used as a mass noun; the more common term for this effect is supercooling.
Patterns
- overcooling of a liquid
Careful overcooling of the water let it stay liquid below zero until it was disturbed.
The lab notes recorded several degrees of overcooling before crystals appeared.
Common combinations
- avoid overcooling
- Set the timer to avoid overcooling the warehouse at night.
- prevent overcooling
- A better sensor would prevent overcooling in the data center.
- risk of overcooling
- There is a risk of overcooling if the fans run all weekend.
- energy wasted through overcooling
- The building lost a great deal of energy wasted through overcooling.
- overcooling of a room
- Complaints about the overcooling of the room rose during the heat wave.
Synonyms and how they differ
- supercooling
- Supercooling is the standard scientific word for chilling a liquid below freezing without it solidifying, whereas overcooling also covers simply making a room too cold.
- chilling
- Chilling is neutral and can be intended, while overcooling always suggests the cooling went too far.
- refrigeration
- Refrigeration names the whole process of keeping things cold on purpose and does not imply excess.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: overcooling or overcooking?
overcooling vs overcooking
Overcooking means cooking food for too long with heat, which is the opposite direction from overcooling.
Practice
The manager asked the technician to fix the thermostat because the ______ of the hall was costing too much money.
Choose one answer.
Overcooling means cooling a space more than needed, which wastes energy. Overheating would mean too much heat, and overcooking relates to food.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “overcooling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.