# heatsink

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/heatsink
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. cooling component

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a metal part in a computer or machine that takes heat away from hot parts to stop them from breaking.

For teachers: a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by an electronic or mechanical device to a fluid medium, often featuring fins to increase surface area.

- The computer kept crashing because the heatsink was covered in thick dust.
- High-performance processors require a substantial heatsink and thermal paste to maintain stable operating temperatures under heavy computational loads.

### 2. to equip with cooling

verb · CEFR C2 · Technical

to add a cooling metal part to an electronic component.

For teachers: to equip a component with a heat-dissipating device. Transitive — takes a direct object.

- The engineer decided to heatsink the new power supply to prevent it from overheating.
- It is standard practice to heatsink any voltage regulator that is expected to dissipate more than a few watts of power during continuous operation.

## Examples

- The computer processor needs a large heatsink to prevent it from overheating.
- After upgrading the graphics card, he noticed the new heatsink was much larger than the previous one to handle the increased power.
- Efficient thermal management in modern high-performance computing relies heavily on the contact quality between the processor die and the heatsink, often mediated by a thin layer of thermal paste.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.