(1) To temporarily render inactive. This refers to many areas in computing such as hardware (to quiesce a device). The time taken to render the device inactive is called the quiesce time. The term quiesce is applied outside of hardware and device suspension and it can refer to a voluntary inactivation of an entire computer system, an e-mail or forum discussion thread or an application.
(2) In all caps, QUIESCE is the command line. Quiesce is a database function similar to restricted or admin mode. In quiesced mode, it allows database administrators to perform maintenance tasks in an exclusive or controlled mode.
