cryo-, cry-, kryo-, kry-
(Greek: cold, very cold, freezing; used to describe the effects of low temperatures or activities carried on at a very low temperature)
1. A device by which a certain temperature can be maintained at a very low level: The specimen was put into a cryostat which cooled it down considerably.
2. A freezing chamber: The students were introduced to the cryostat where they would be cutting microscopically fine parts of tissues with a microtome.
2. A freezing chamber: The students were introduced to the cryostat where they would be cutting microscopically fine parts of tissues with a microtome.
One who uses freezing temperature to destroy diseased tissue: At the hospital, Mary's father, a cryosurgeon, removed Jenny's warts with liquid nitrogen.
An operation using freezing temperature (achieved by liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide) to destroy diseased tissue. The destruction of tissues by the application of extreme cold is known as cryosurgery and utilizes some forms of intracranial and cutaneous surgery.
cryosurgical (adjective) (not comparable)
Referring to an operation that utilises freezing temperatures: For the operation, Dr. Dawson need his cryosurgical set of instruments in order to destroy the tumour in Mrs. Smart's abdomen.
Destruction of the thalamus with the application of extreme cold: In medical school, Sherry learned that a cryothalamectomy was a surgical operation using a supercoled probe placed in the thalamus in order to destroy a tumor.
The use of cold in the treatment of a disease: Cryotherapy is a medical treatment that involves cooling a body, part, especially by applying ice packs to an inflamed area that is quite swollen.
cryotolerant (adjective), more cryotolerant, most cryotolerant
Relating to the ability to exist in very low temperatures: Mr. Timmons asked his students to write down any cryotolerant plants in their gardens that were able to thriving throughout they very cold winter days.
In physical chemistry, an instrument used to remove specific material from a vacuum system by condensation on a very cold surface: In order to extract one type of gas from another gas, the process of condensation on a cold surface is necessary by using a cryotrap.
A lever or a control button that utilizes superconductivity: A cryotron is a cryogenic device that uses the principle that a varying magnetic field can cause the resistance of a superconducting element to change rapidly between its high normal and low superconductive values: used as a switch and as a computer-memory element.
A cryotron is a superconductive device in which current in one or more input circuits magnetically controls the superconducting-to-normal transition in one or more output circuits.
cryotropic (adjective), more cryotropic, most cryotropic
Regarding the directional response towards cold or frost: Jack observed that one of his flowers, evidently cryotropic in the garden was inclining towards the sun although it was so cold and freezing outside.
An orientation response to the stimulus of cold or frost: Cryotropism is exemplified by plants that turn towards the sunlight even though it is very cold or freezing.
In geology, a disturbance of the soil surface or subsoil; frost churningl: Cryoturbation occurs by the action of freezing or of alternate freezing and thawing in the fissures or cracks of rocks in the ground.
The method of using a special instrument in ultramicrotomy for cutting frozen samples of biological substances:
Cryoultramicrotomy is the technique of using a cryostat, or freezing microtome, in which the temperature is regulated to -2° Celsius to cut ultrathin frozen sections for microscopic (usually, electron microscopic) examination.
The security of biological tissues from the results of cold: In order for cryroprotection to work successfully, a cryoprotectant is necessary.
Transscleral freezing of the ciliary body in the treatment of glaucoma: Dr. Evans told the elderly Mrs. Trever that she need some surgery called cyclocryotherapy in order to save her eyesight from the disease termed glaucoma.
You may take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section by clicking on this cryo-, kryo- quiz to check your word knowledge or learn more about the words in this unit.
Cross references of word families that are related directly or indirectly to "winter, freezing, frost, and/or cold": algid- (cold, chilly); cheimo-, chimo- (winter, cold); crymo-, krymo- (cold, chill, frost); frigo-, frig- (cold, frost); gel-, gelati- (freeze, frost, congeal); hiber- (winter, wintry); pago- (cold, freezing); psychro- (cold); rhigo- (cold, frost; shiver).
