v. [f. L. superfūs-, pa. ppl. stem of superfundĕre: see SUPER- 2 and FUSE v. In sense 3, a new formation on SUPERFUSION 2.]
1. trans. To pour over or on something.
1657. Tomlinson, Renou’s Disp., 162*. Either a Prisane or decoction … must be superfused.
1677. Gale, Crt. Gentiles, IV. II. iii. § 3. II. 449. his Holy Spirit from the beginning of the World is said … to be superfused on the waters.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 13 Dec. 1685. Pouring first a very cold liquor into a glass, and super-fusing on it another.
2. To sprinkle or affuse; to suffuse in baptism.
1657. J. Watts, Scribe, Pharisee, etc., III. 27. A young man of the Hebrews being desperately sick and calling for baptism, in want of water was superfused with sand.
a. 1834. Coleridge, Lit. Rem. (1836), II. 409. ‘Sprinkled’ [with water], or rather affused or superfused.
3. To cool (a liquid) to a temperature below its melting-point without causing it to solidify; to supercool, overcool, undercool.
1902. Encycl. Brit., XXVIII. 568/1. It is generally possible to cool a liquid several degrees below its normal freezing-point without a separation of crystals…. A liquid in this state is said to be ‘undercooled’ or ‘superfused.’
