heat- As a preliminary race for a sporting contest, it is so called because of its intensity.
2. a printing or photocopying process using infrared rays and heat.
3. a process of photography using far-infrared radiation; thermal photography. — thermographer, n. — thermographic, adj.
2. Physiology. the regulation of body temperature by various physiological processes. — thermotactic, thermotaxic, adj.
See Also: WEATHER
- The days were like hot coals —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
See Also: DAY
- A glaring, summery heat covered everything like a layer of glass —Jean Thompson
- The heat came down on you like a leaden mantle, stifling you as it did so —Dominique Lapierre
- [Midsummer] heat closed in like a hand over a murder victim’s mouth —Truman Capote
- Heat fell on her like a blanket —Julia O’Faolain
- Heat gathers like fog —Angela Carter
- Heat … heavy as water —Dan Jacobson
- The heat … hung like a hot dust vapor —H. E. Bates
- Heat lay on the pavement like a tired dog in the doorway of a house —Aharon Megged
See Also: CITY/STREETSCAPES
- Heat shimmered and bent the fields like the landscape was a reflection in an old mirror —Will Weaver
See Also: LANDSCAPES
- The heat thick as a swamp —Margaret Atwood
- Heat thick as jelly —Elizabeth Enright
- The heat was like a tyrant who hated his subjects —William H. Hallhan
- The heat was like a wasting disease —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Heat waves … rising … like fumes off kerosene —Larry McMurtry
- Heat waves rose writhing like fine wavy hair —Wallace Stegner
- (Sun) hot as a blast furnace —Raymond Chandler
- Hot as a blister —Sir Francis C. Burnand
- Hot as a draft from hell —William H. Gass
- Hot as a four-alarm fire —H. C. Witwer
- Hot as a fox —Elizabeth Spencer
- Hot as a jungle —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Hot as a mink in Africa —Reynolds Price
- Hot as an oven —The Holy Bible
Writers and speakers have long repeated and enlarged upon this simile, changing the descriptive frame of reference altogether or switching from the oven to what comes out of it. Some of these old-timers include: “Hot as hell-fire” (John Dryden), “Hot as hate” (Hamlin Garland), “Hot as hammered hell/hot as hammered lightning” (American colloquialisms) and “Hot as a basted turkey” (Will Carleton).
- (On some nights, New York is as) hot as Bangkok —Saul Bellow
- Hot as live ash —Beryl Markham
- (I am as) hot as molten lead, and as heavy too —William Shakespeare
- (I’m) hot as shit —Richard Ford
- (Even the fog that day was) hot as soup —Marge Piercy
- Hot as the business end of a pistol —Delmore Schwartz
- Hot as the hinges of hell —Babs H. Deal
- The hot days pressed people flat as irons —Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
- Hot, like a furnace room —Frank Conroy
- It was like being inside a radiator —David Brierley
- It was more than hot: it was like being under a damp blanket in the tropics —Laurie Colwin
- Scorches like nettles —Babette Deutsch
- Steaming [from hot weather] like crabs in a soup pot —Margaret Laurence
- (The shallow ditches were) steaming like fresh cowflap —Paul Theroux
- [A hot bath] steams like a bowl of soup —Margaret Atwood
- (She was) trapped between the heat of the sun and the heat rising from the earth. It was like being struck simultaneously by gusts of fire from above and from below —Margaret Millar
- Warm as a newborn child —William Alfred
- Warm as summer —Walter Savage Landor
- Warm as veins —Ted Hughes
- (The water is) warm like my blood —Marge Piercy
- (A novel that) warms like a hug —Anon book blurb, quoted in advertisement from San Francisco Chronicle
Past participle: heated
|Noun||1.||heat - a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature|
energy, free energy - (physics) a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules or ergs; "energy can take a wide variety of forms"
geothermal energy - energy derived from the heat in the interior of the earth
heat of dissociation - the heat required for a fluid substance to break up into simpler constituents
heat of formation - the heat evolved or absorbed during the formation of one mole of a substance from its component elements
heat of solution - the heat evolved or absorbed when one mole of a substance is dissolved in a large volume of a solvent
heat of transformation, latent heat - heat absorbed or radiated during a change of phase at a constant temperature and pressure
specific heat - the heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance one degree centigrade
|2.||heat - the presence of heat|
temperature - the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment (corresponding to its molecular activity)
torridity - extreme heat
warmness, warmth - the quality of having a moderate degree of heat; "an agreeable warmth in the house"
white heat - the hotness of something heated until it turns white
|3.||heat - the sensation caused by heat energy|
temperature - the somatic sensation of cold or heat
|4.||heat - the trait of being intensely emotional|
fieriness - a passionate and quick-tempered nature
|5.||heat - applies to nonhuman mammals: a state or period of heightened sexual arousal and activity|
|6.||heat - a preliminary race in which the winner advances to a more important race|
race - a contest of speed; "the race is to the swift"
|7.||heat - utility to warm a building; "the heating system wasn't working"; "they have radiant heating"|
building, edifice - a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place; "there was a three-story building on the corner"; "it was an imposing edifice"
central heating - a heating system in which air or water is heated at a central furnace and sent through the building via vents or pipes and radiators
gas heat - heating system that burns natural gas
panel heating - heating system consisting of wall or floor or baseboard or ceiling panels containing electric conductors or heating pipes
radiator - heater consisting of a series of pipes for circulating steam or hot water to heat rooms or buildings
steam heat, steam heating - a heating system in which steam is generated in boilers and piped to radiators
utility - a facility composed of one or more pieces of equipment connected to or part of a structure and designed to provide a service such as heat or electricity or water or sewage disposal; "the price of the house included all utilities"
|Verb||1.||heat - make hot or hotter; "the sun heats the oceans"; "heat the water on the stove"|
alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue"
scald - heat to the boiling point; "scald the milk"
soak - heat a metal prior to working it
calcine - heat a substance so that it oxidizes or reduces
preheat - heat beforehand; "Preheat the oven!"
overheat - make excessively or undesirably hot; "The room was overheated"
reheat - heat again; "Please reheat the food from last night"
|2.||heat - provide with heat; "heat the house"|
furnish, provide, supply, render - give something useful or necessary to; "We provided the room with an electrical heater"
steam-heat - heat by means of steam
|3.||heat - arouse or excite feelings and passions; "The ostentatious way of living of the rich ignites the hatred of the poor"; "The refugees' fate stirred up compassion around the world"; "Wake old feelings of hatred"|
arouse, elicit, evoke, provoke, enkindle, kindle, fire, raise - call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy"
ferment - work up into agitation or excitement; "Islam is fermenting Africa"
|4.||heat - gain heat or get hot; "The room heated up quickly"|
change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election"
overheat - get excessively and undesirably hot; "The car engines overheated"
fry - be excessively hot; "If the children stay out on the beach for another hour, they'll be fried"
warmth cold, coolness, coldness
"If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen"
in the heat of the day → en las horas de más calor
on or over a low heat (Culin) → a fuego lento
in the heat of the moment/battle → en el calor del momento/de la batalla
he replied with some heat → contestó bastante indignado or con bastante acaloramiento
when the heat is on → cuando hay presión
it'll take the heat off us → esto nos dará un respiro
to take the heat out of a situation → reducir la tensión de una situación
to turn on the heat → empezar a ejercer presión
the heat is on → ha llegado la hora de la verdad
we played well when the heat was on → a la hora de la verdad supimos jugar bien (Pol) → crear un ambiente de crisis
heat haze N → calina f, calima f
heat loss N → pérdida f de calor
heat rash N → sarpullido m
heat shield N → escudo m contra el calor
heat treatment N → tratamiento m de calor
in the heat of the election campaign → dans le feu de la campagne électorale
in the heat of the moment → dans le feu de l'action
I can't stand the heat → non sopporto il caldo
at low heat (Culin) (on stove) → a fuoco basso; (in oven) → a calore moderato
in the heat of the moment (fig) → nella foga del momento
in the heat of the battle → nella furia della battaglia
to put the heat on sb → fare pressione a or su qn
he replied with some heat → rispose piuttosto irritato