quench

UK: /ˈkwɛntʃ/ US: /kwɛntʃ/ ,(kwench)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

quench /kwɛntʃ/   v. [~ + object]

1. to satisfy;
   appease:
   had a drink to quench my thirst.
2. to put out;
   extinguish (fire, flames, etc.).
3. Metallurgy to cool suddenly by plunging into a liquid, as in tempering steel by immersion in water.

quench•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

quench  (kwench), v.t. 

1. to slake, satisfy, or allay (thirst, desires, passion, etc.).
2. to put out or extinguish (fire, flames, etc.).
3. Metallurgy to cool suddenly by plunging into a liquid, as in tempering steel by immersion in water.
4. to subdue or destroy;
   overcome;
   quell:
   to quench an uprising.
5. Electronics to terminate (the flow of electrons in a vacuum tube) by application of a voltage.

• 1150–1200; Middle English quenchen, earlier cwenken; compare Old English -cwencan in ācwencan to quench (compare a-³)

quench′a•ble, adj. 
quench′a•ble•ness, n. 
quench′er, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

quench / kwɛntʃ/ verb (transitive)

1. to satisfy (one's thirst, desires, etc); slake
2. to put out (a fire, flame, etc); extinguish
3. to put down or quell; suppress
4. to cool (hot metal) by plunging it into cold water

Etymology: Old English ācwencan to extinguish; related to Old Frisian quinka to vanish

ˈquenchable adjective

ˈquencher noun

ˈquenching noun