a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 139 Go ðu ðan to Godes hus ðe godspel to heren: Ðat is soule drink, sinnes quenching.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 52 Quenchinge and deyinge of þe herte is in þe nailes moost opunliche I-schewid.

a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 119 (MED) Þei scheteþ with arblastes grete querelles wiþ fire brennynge hedes to þe bonkes of þe schippes þe whiche, for þei beeþ greced wiþ talowh, piche, & tarre, thei brenneþ with oute quenchinge.

a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 2020 (MED) It is not holsom to smylle to som cole, For quenching of som snofe a mare wil cast her vole.

?1543 T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe x. f. lxi^v Stynkyng thinges, as assafetida..and the quenchyng out of candels.

1589 Baillie Court Bk. St. Andrews & Deerness 15 Aug. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Quech(e)ing Eftir the quencheing off the plague off pest.

1636 S. Ward Serm. (1862) 91 When the bells ring awke, every man brings his bucket to the quenching of this fire.

1669 G. Miege Relation of Three Embassies 412 Engins, such as are used frequently in the quenching of great fires.

1731 Philos. Trans. 1729–30 (Royal Soc.) 36 307 Steel hardened by quenching.

1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. viii. 61/2 Pilgriming restlessly to so many ‘Saints' Wells’,..ever without quenching of his thirst.

a1864 N. Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1879) I. 222 A quenching of the sunshine.

1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts 3rd Ser. 285/1 In order to lessen the risk of cracking during the quenching, pour oil over the water.

1940 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price Higher School Certificate Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) liii. 565 The common range of temperature for annealing tools and cutlery is from about 220°–320° C., followed by quenching in water, oil or tallow.

1972 C. H. DePuy & O. L. Chapman Molecular Reactions & Photochem. iii. 37 Sensitization and quenching are important methods for determining the spin multiplicity of excited states responsible for photochemical reactions.

1991 Sci. Amer. Mar. 30/2 The particles could heat the wires enough to cause them to cease superconducting, a process known as quenching.

2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. iii. 82 The long years of study of steels hardened by quenching into water..made it clear enough that the most interesting alloys are not in equilibrium.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1847/2 Quenching, the process of producing a hard scale or crust upon the surface of molten metal in a crucible or cistern, for the purpose of removing it in successive rondles or disks, instead of allowing it to congeal into a solid mass.

1917 Proc. Royal Soc. 1916–17 A. 93 199 The second piece [of steel] was heated to the desired quenching temperature and dropped into the quenching medium.

2006 Jrnl. Materials Processing Technol. 172 249/1 The quenching process can be classified as liquid quenching and gas quenching according to the type of the quenching medium used.

1883 Morning Rev. (Decatur, Illinois) 5 Jan. It is most time that the quenching process was applied to this german fire-brand.

1964 L. H. Van Vlack Elements Materials Sci. (ed. 2) xi. 319 (caption) The danger of cracking may be partially eliminated by a variation of the quenching process, called an interrupted quench.

2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. iii. 90 The whole process of age-hardening was only possible because the quenching process locked in a population of excess lattice vacancies.

1946 Nature 31 Aug. 308/1 Experiments with various iron–carbon alloys..tend to show that the amounts of ferrite, martensite and retained austenite obtained in the quenched specimen are independent of the quenching-rate.

2005 Oil & Gas Jrnl. (Nexis) 26 Sept. 59 The specimens were subjected, before the measurements, to an annealing process at high temperature; one sample was then exposed to a low quenching rate, and the other to a high quenching rate.

1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 373/1 These conditions provide for the so called ‘quenching’ and bending tests being applied to a piece cut from each plate and bar.

2006 Materials Sci. & Engin. A. 420 34/1 The quenching test was carried out using [a] Gleeble 1500 thermomechanical simulator.

1872 Times 8 June 14/1 Railway Wheel Machinery, including..quenching trough.

1896 F. S. Meyer Handbk. Art Smithing ii. 19 In the front part of the forge are found, as a rule, a quenching trough, hollows and receivers for fuel and slack.

2005 D. Cruickshank Around World in 80 Treasures 78 In the workshop are a forge, a quenching trough and a small but beautiful Shinto shrine.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1847/2 Quenching-tub, the vessel in which the heated iron or steel from the forge is plunged, in order to cool or temper it.

1999 Herald Sun (Durham, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 7 Nov. g3 Gone are the hammers, fireboxes and quenching tubs of the blacksmith's forge.

1926 A. Sauveur Metallogr. Iron & Steel (ed. 3) xiv. 220 Water quenching is to be preferred to oil quenching if it can be performed without producing quenching cracks.

1966 C. R. Tottle Sci. Engin. Materials x. 224 The strain in the transformed martensite is tensile, in the circumferential direction, and so radial cracks form..to relieve the stress; these are known as quenching cracks.

2003 Jrnl. Volcanology & Geothermal Res. 126 344 (caption) Glass particle showing quenching crack structures caused by the contact of the hot fragment with liquid water.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Wisd. xix. 19 Water forȝat of his quenching [v.r. quenchende; L. extinguentis] kynde.

1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates f. iv Like quenching blastes, which oft reuive the flame.

1581 J. Studley tr. Seneca Hippolytus ii, in T. Newton et al. tr. Seneca 10 Trag. f. 65* The burning fire shall dwell, And bide with quenching water first.

1611 Bible (King James) Wisd. xix. 20 The water forgat his owne quenching nature. View more context for this quotation

1694 J. Banks Innocent Usurper i. i. 7 What Mysteries of Love without a Name! What quenching Cordials, and what killing Flame!

1766 W. Cruden Nature Spritualised 199 Didst thou observe thy neighbour's roof to gleam, Would not thy hand bestow the quenching stream?

1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion vi. 291 The parched rock Was smitten, and poured forth a quenching stream. View more context for this quotation

1858 W. Arnot Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth I. 20 Can the blazing fire welcome in the quenching water?

1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. iii. 154 The addition of a small amount of a second, ‘quenching’, gas..serves to prevent secondary electron emission by the positive ion bombardment of the cathode.

1993 Guardian 9 Oct. (Food Suppl.) 18/1 The finish is quenching and bittersweet, making the beer dangerously and engagingly quaffable.