Engineers used a layer of ceramic fiber to insulate the spacecraft's hull from the extreme temperatures of re-entry.
工程师们使用一层陶瓷纤维来隔离航天器外壳，使其免受重返大气层时极端温度的影响。
Sequoia trees, among the largest living organisms on Earth by volume, survive periodic wildfires thanks to bark that can grow over a foot thick, insulating the tree's living tissue from the intense heat that would destroy most other species.
From a Central Ideas and Details question · Information and Ideas
Which choice best defines “insulate”?
C — To cover or protect something to prevent heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering. “insulate” means to cover or protect something to prevent heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering.
Which word means “to cover or protect something to prevent heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering”?
C — insulate. “insulate” means to cover or protect something to prevent heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering.
insulate — to cover or protect something to prevent heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering. In Chinese: 隔离，绝缘.
insulate is pronounced /ˈɪnsjʊleɪt/.
Engineers used a layer of ceramic fiber to insulate the spacecraft's hull from the extreme temperatures of re-entry. (工程师们使用一层陶瓷纤维来隔离航天器外壳，使其免受重返大气层时极端温度的影响。)
protect, shield, isolate — all close in meaning to insulate (to cover or protect something to prevent heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering).
expose, conduct — each the opposite of insulate (to cover or protect something to prevent heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering).
Yes. insulate is on the SAT Prep Basic list — the everyday academic words the SAT assumes you already have. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.