Condenser

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. One who, or that which, condenses.

2. An apparatus for receiving and condensing the volatile products of distillation to a liquid or solid form, by cooling.

3. An apparatus, separate from the cylinder, in which the exhaust steam is condensed by the action of cold water or air. See Illust. of Steam engine. Achromatic condenser (Optics), an achromatic lens used as a condenser. -- Bull's-eye condenser, or Bull's-eye (Optics), a lens of short focal distance used for concentrating rays of light. -- Injection condenser, a vessel in which steam is condensed by the direct contact of water. -- Surface condenser, an apparatus for condensing steam, especially the exhaust of a steam engine, by bringing it into contact with metallic surface cooled by water or air.