esthesioscopy
The testing of tactile (touch) and other forms of sensibility.
psychric
Pertaining to low temperatures or cold habitats.
psychroalgia, psychralgia
1. A painful sensation of cold.
2. A morbid state characterized by painful subjective sensations of cold.
psychrocleistogamic
A reference to plants in which self-pollination takes place within flowers that remain closed because of abnormally cold conditions.
psychroesthesia, psychroaesthesia
1. The form of sensation that perceives cold.
2. A sensation of cold although the body is warm; a chill.
3. A subjective sensation of coldness in a part of the body that feels warm to the touch.
psychrokliny
Growth behavior influenced by low temperatures.
psychrolusia
Bathing in cold water.
psychrometer
A device for measuring the humidity of the atmosphere by the difference in temperature between two thermometers, the bulb of one kept moist, the other dry. Evaporation from the moist bulb lowers the reading of that thermometer; the greater the difference in readings, the drier the air; no difference indicates 100% relative humidity.
psychrometry
1. The study of the physical laws that influence air and water mixture.
2. The calculation of relative humidity and water vapor pressures from wet and dry bulb temperatures and barometric pressure; whereas relative humidity is the value ordinarily employed, the vapor pressure is the measurement of physiological significance.
psychrophil, psychrophile, psychrophilic
1. An organism that grows best at a low temperature (0 to 32 degrees C; 32 to 86 degrees F), with optimum growth occurring at 15 to 20 degrees C (59 to 68 degrees F).
2. An organism that lives or thrives at low temperatures.
psychrophilic, psychrophile, psychrophily
1. In biology, thriving at low temperatures.
2. An organism that grows best at a low temperature of 0 to 15 degrees Celsius [32 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit], with optimum growth occurring at 15 to 20 degrees Celsius [60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit].
Used especially in reference to certain bacteria.
psychrophobia
An abnormal dread of coldness or cold weather; an extreme sensitiveness to cold.
psychrophobia, psychrophobic
1. Extreme sensitiveness to cold.
2. A morbid dread of cold.
psychrophore
A double catheter through which cold water is circulated to apply cold to the urethra or another canal or cavity.
psychrophyte
A plant living in relatively cold polar or alpine habitats or on a cold substratum.
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