A reference to a form of life that thrives at low temperatures: For her report in biology, Jane read that some cryophilic organisms that prefer icy habitats include psychrophilic microorganisms and actinobacteria.
cryophobia
(s) (noun), cryophobias
(pl)
A hatred of cold temperatures caused by ice, ice crystal precipitation, or frost: Alice has been suffering from
cryophobias on several occasions during the severe winter where she lives.
Because of his cryophobia, Frank has been having his heaters turned up very high because he can't even look out of his windows since the high snow has covered them up outside, and he and his family feel as if they are living in a refrigerator!
cryophorous, cryophoric
An instrument demonstrating freezing of water by its evaporation.
cryophorus
An instrument for showing the freezing of water by its own evaporation.
cryophylactic
Resistant to low temperatures; said of bacteria.
cryophysics
A branch of physics that is concerned with processes and phenomena at temperatures approaching absolute zero.
cryophytes
1. Plants that grow on ice or snow.
2. Plants thriving at low temperatures; such as, algae, bacteria, and fungi on snow and ice.
cryoplanation
Land erosion that results from processes associated with intensive frost action.
cryoplankton
(s) (noun), cryoplankton
(pl)
Minute organisms existing in persistent snow, ice, and glacial waters: Cryoplankton, especially the algid flora, inhabit snow, ice, and the ice water of the alpine and polar areas.
cryoprecipitate
Precipitate which forms when soluble material is cooled, especially with reference to the precipitate that forms in normal blood plasma which has been subjected to cold precipitation and which is rich in factor VIII.
cryoprecipitation
(s) (noun), cryoprecipitations
(pl)
The process of forming a solid that settles from a solution: " The cryoprecipitation that forms when plasma is frozen and then thawed; which is especially rich in fibronectin (secreted proteins) and a blood clotting factor, that when acting together can form a blood clot shortly after platelets have broken at the site of the wound."
cryopreservation, cryopreserve
1. Maintenance of the viability of excised tissues or organs at extremely low temperatures.
2. The process of storing semen, ova, corneas, embryos, bone marrow, or body tissue at extremely low temperatures for future use.
cryoprobe
1. An instrument used in cryosurgery to apply extreme cold to a selected area.
2. A surgical instrument for conducting intense cold to small areas of body tissues in order to destroy those areas.
cryoprostatectomy
Destruction of the prostate gland by freezing, utilizing a specially designed cryoprobe.
cryoprotectant
Substance that is used to protect from the effects of freezing, largely by preventing large ice crystals from forming. The two commonly used for freezing cells are DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) or glycerol.
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).
