cooling

The word “cooling” means producing a lower temperature or a refreshing sense of coldness. In plain terms, something that lowers temperature, or the process of getting cooler.

“Cooling” is pronounced KOO-lihng (/ˈkulɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “cooling” used in a sentence: “The cooling breeze made the summer heat bearable.”

Depending on how it is used, “cooling” can be an adjective and a noun.

“Cooling” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Cooling” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: producing a lower temperature or a refreshing sense of coldness.

Both involve lowering a temperature, but chilling implies making something distinctly cold, while cooling can be gentler — simply reducing warmth or giving a refreshing sense of coldness. Chilling also has a separate figurative meaning of frightening, as in "a chilling story," which cooling does not share.

A cooling-off period is a set stretch of time in which a buyer may cancel a purchase or contract without penalty, or in which two sides in a dispute pause so tempers can settle. The phrase extends the idea of cooling from temperature to emotions.

Cooling is the process — a reduction in temperature or the act of achieving one — while coolant is the substance used to bring it about, such as the liquid circulating through an engine or a computer. The coolant absorbs heat and carries it away, producing the cooling.

Common collocations include cooling system, cooling effect, cooling breeze, cooling fan, and cooling-off period. As a noun, cooling often follows adjectives such as rapid, gradual, or evaporative, as in "rapid cooling of the metal."