[ad. late L. superfūsio, -ōnem, n. of action f. superfūs-, superfundĕre to SUPERFUSE.]
1. [SUPER- 2.] The action or operation of pouring liquid, etc., over something. Also fig.
1657. J. Watts, Scribe, Pharisee, etc., II. 68. Our way of superfusion, or aspersion with water.
1867. J. W. Hales, in Farrar, Ess. Lib. Educ., 307. Is what is called classical instruction at our schools anything better than a more or less copious superfusion of facts?
1871. Napheys, Prev. & Cure Dis., II. ii. 455. In cases of delirium tremens with high fever, what is called cold superfusion may be used while the patient is held in the warm bath.
2. [SUPER- 4.] The cooling of a liquid below its melting-point without solidification taking place.
1866. Sci. Rev., Dec., 145/3. There is … a marked difference between the circumstances in which solidification takes place in superfusion and supersaturation.
1880. W. C. Roberts, Introd. Metallurgy, 31. The cooling mass of molten metal does not ‘flash’ or pass through the remarkable state known as ‘superfusion.’
