liquid air

American  

noun

1. a pale blue, intensely cold liquid, obtained by the compression and cooling of air: used as a source of oxygen, nitrogen, and inert gases, and as a refrigerant.

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liquid air British  

noun

1. air that has been liquefied by cooling. It is a pale blue and consists mainly of liquid oxygen (boiling pt: –182.9°C) and liquid nitrogen (boiling pt: –195.7°C): used in the production of pure oxygen, nitrogen, and the inert gases, and as a refrigerant

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Etymology

Origin of liquid air

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

"We need many different forms of energy storage - and I'm confident liquid air will be one of them."

From BBC • Nov. 6, 2020

It sounds like magic but it is real - a plan to store cheap night-time wind energy in the form of liquid air.

From BBC • Oct. 22, 2019

Argon, neon, krypton, and xenon come from the fractional distillation of liquid air.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

The first, the layer actually in contact with the liquid air, was to be made out of a highly conductive copper alloy.

From Scientific American • Apr. 28, 2012

All remaining impurities, including the excess of oxygen, can then be taken out of the gas by Sir James Dewar’s ingenious method of absorption with charcoal cooled in liquid air.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various