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)
cryothalamectomy, cryothalamotomy
Destruction of the thalamus with the application of extreme cold.
cryotherapy
1. The use of cold in the treatment of disease.
2. Medical treatment that involves cooling the body, especially by applying ice packs.
2. Medical treatment that involves cooling the body, especially by applying ice packs.
cryotolerant (adjective), more cryotolerant, most cryotolerant
Relating to the ability to exist in very low temperatures.
cryotrap
To capture one type of gas by entrapping it under another gas during the process of condensing the latter one at a low temperature.
cryotron
1. 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.
2. 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.
2. 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.
cryotropism, cryotropic
An orientation response to the stimulus of cold or frost.
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.
cryoultramicrotomy
The technique of using a cryostat or freezing microtome, in which the temperature is regulated to -20 degrees Celsius, to cut ultrathin frozen sections for microscopic (usually, electron microscopic) examination.
cyclocryotherapy
Transscleral freezing of the ciliary body in the treatment of glaucoma.
hemocryoscopy
Determination of the freezing point of blood.
Extreme sensibility to cold: Mr. Jenkins never wanted to live in Norway, because he suffered from excessive pain resulting from exposure to cold, so he decided to continue living in the very warm climate in Arizona.
An excessive, or extreme, sensitivity to cold: Mark's sister suffered from hypercryesthesia and so she could not bear to go outside in the winter.
A decreased feeling of pain when exposed to cold: Even though the temperature was below 0°C.,Janet went outside in her shorts because she never felt any discomfort in such cold weather, due to her condition of hypocryalgesia.
A decreased sensitivity to cold: The hypocryesthesia of Mary's mother meant that she usually did not need to wear a heavy coat during winter.
A line connecting points on the Earth's surface at which the temperature is the same during a specified coldest period of the year: Mr. Tall asked the students in his class to construct a isocryme which would show the same mean temperature in the coldest part of the year.
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).
