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)
Outdated, determination of the freezing point of blood: In her grandfather's old medical dictionary, Jill found the term hemocryoscopy, a diagnostic test which, in the present day, is of uncertain or doubtful usage.
Extreme sensibility to cold: Because Mr. Jenkins suffered from hypercryalgesia, 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 specific cold time of a 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.
The use of a cryoscope to determine the freezing point in the urine: In medical school, Mark learned about urinocryoscopy as a method of assessing the point of iciness in a person's urine.
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).
