Freeze-drying

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Freeze-dry \Freeze"-dry`\ (fr[=e]z"-dr[imac]`), v. t. [imp. & p.
     p. {Freeze-dried}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Freeze-drying}.]
     to remove the moisture from (e.g. food) by first freezing and
     then subjecting to a high vacuum; -- used as a mild method
     for drying foods or chemicals while causing little
     decomposition, in contrast to heat-drying.


  
     Note: This is a relatively gently drying process used to
           preserve food or sensitive biological materials. For
           biochemical materials, the term {{lyophilize}} is often
           used.
           [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  freeze-drying
       n : a method of drying food or blood plasma or pharmaceuticals
           or tissue without destroying their physical structure;
           material is frozen and then warmed in a vacuum so that
           the ice sublimes [syn: {lyophilization}, {lyophilisation}]