To make something behave like a fluid by causing particles to flow freely, or to convert a substance into a fluid state.
From 'fluid' plus the verb-forming suffix '-ize.' This is a modern technical term developed in the 20th century in chemical engineering when scientists needed a word for making solids flow like liquids.
Fluidization is a clever industrial trick: if you blow air upward through sand or powder fast enough, the particles separate and move like a liquid! This technique is used in coffee roasters, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and even in some types of reactors.
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