quenching
The extinction of any of several physical properties.
Other meanings
The rapid cooling of a hot metal object, by placing it in a liquid, in order to harden it.
A process in which a galaxy loses cold gas, thus strongly suppressing star formation.
Word history
From Middle English "quenchinge".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “quenching” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.