quench

CEFRB2

/kwɛnt͡ʃ/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To satisfy thirst or put out a fire.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To cool rapidly by direct contact with liquid coolant, as a blacksmith quenching hot iron.

Examples

  • I had a glass of beer to quench my thirst.

  • I quench my thirst with a cold glass of water.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To extinguish or put out (as a fire or light).

  2. To satisfy, especially a literal or figurative thirst.

  3. To terminate or greatly diminish (a chemical reaction) by destroying or deforming the remaining reagents.

More examples

In context

  • If someone is pinned against the MRI magnet by a ferromagnetic object, you may need to quench the magnet in order to free them.

  • The library quenched her thirst for knowledge.

  • The swordsmith quenched the sword in an oil bath so that it wouldn't shatter.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After running a marathon, he drank a full bottle of water to blank his intense thirst.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English quenchen, from Old English cwenċan, from Proto-Germanic *kwankijaną.