n. That which refrigerates, cools, or keeps cool; specifically, any vessel, chamber, or apparatus designed to keep its contents at a temperature little if at all above the freezing-point.n. A feed-water heater, formerly used on ships, in which the boiler-feed was heated by the water or brine blown out of the boiler.n. In heat-engines, a device or substance for absorbing the heat generated during the compression stage of the cycle.n. In steam-engines, an obsolete device which was used for cooling the injection water for a marine condensing engine by cold sea-water. The surface-condenser renders this unnecessary.n. A machine for cooling air or fluids, in which the fluid or gas is compressed, cooled, and then allowed to expand, lowering its temperature in this last stage, and withdrawing heat from objects warmer than itself.