Overchill

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Cooling something far more than necessary, so that it becomes colder than intended or than is pleasant
2. Subjecting food or drink to too much cold, leaving it colder than it should be for serving or storage
3. Making a thing excessively cold through prolonged or intense refrigeration beyond the desired temperature

Etymology: "Overchill" is a plain compound: the prefix "over-", meaning excessively or beyond a proper measure, joined to "chill," a word meaning to make something cold. Put together, the verb describes cooling something past the point you wanted, so that the cold has gone too far. The prefix does the work here. English has long used "over-" to mark an action carried too far, as in "overcook" or "overwork," and "overchill" follows the same pattern, applied to refrigeration. Its sense is set by the parts, so a reader can understand it on first meeting without needing a special history behind it.

Synonyms: overcool, supercool, freeze

Antonyms: overheat