supercooledadj.
/ˌsuːpəˈkuːld/, /ˌsjuːpəˈkuːld/, /ˈsuːpəkuːld/, /ˈsjuːpəkuːld/, U.S. /ˌsupərˈkuld/ 1. That has been made exceptionally cool (literal or figurative). rare.
ΚΠ
1875 10th Ann. Rep. Amer. Dairymen's Assoc. 1874 104 The ever-ready adjunct, to which I allude, exists in the use of what I denominate the sub-ice, or super-cooled ventilation.
1909 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Aug. 204 A Woman is a super-cooled super-human, constituting a separate class to be legislated for in a particular way.
2. Physics.
a. In a liquid state despite being below its freezing point. Cf. supercooling n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > [adjective] > below freezing point
supercooled1881
the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > liquid phase > [adjective] > supercooled
supercooled1881
supercold1904
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > heat > low temperature physics > [adjective] > cooled
surfused1878
supercooled1881
undercooled1895
1881 A. Leslie tr. A. E. Nordenskiöld Voy. Vega I. ix. 451 It arises undoubtedly from the fall of super-cooled mist, that is to say of mist whose vesicles have been cooled considerably below the freezing-point without being changed to ice.
1898 Chem. News 29 July 59/1 (heading) The variation with the temperature of the number of nuclei which are formed in different supercooled liquids.
1936 H. L. Alling Interpretative Petrol. Igneous Rocks iv. 41 Supercooled water, left undisturbed, is stable if not in contact with ice. ‘Seeding’ it with the solid phase produces crystallization.
2000 C. D. Whiteman Mountain Meteorol. viii. 112 (caption) Rime forms when supercooled droplets freeze on contact with cold surfaces.
b. Esp. with reference to glass: apparently solid, but formed from a liquid without a definite change of phase and having (on the atomic scale) the disordered structure of a liquid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > solid phase > [adjective]
supercooled1906
1906 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1905 391 It is the transformation of liquid into crystal. Not necessarily into a solid, for recent research shows that there is no dividing line between liquid and solid; a plastic solid body may flow; a solid glass is only a supercooled liquid.
1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods Sculpt. xi. 329 Glass is sometimes referred to as a supercooled liquid, because the material has no definite melting point.
2002 P. Torlen & G. Shannon New Stained Glass 6 Considered by some to be a supercooled liquid, glass looks like a solid when in its rigid state but does not have the internal crystalline structure of solids.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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