thermal barrier

American

noun

Aeronautics, Rocketry.

the high temperatures produced by the friction between a supersonic object and the earth's atmosphere that limit the speed of an airplane or rocket.

thermal barrier British

noun

Also called: heat barrier. an obstacle to flight at very high speeds as a result of the heating effect of air friction

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of thermal barrier

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For decades, this thermal barrier has been one of the toughest challenges in engineering.

From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026

Buried inside the extra-thick walls of these homes are layers of high-density fiberglass insulation flanked by rigid foam boards taped together at the seams to forge a thermal barrier.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 14, 2016

The Okanogan River warmed up enough to create the "thermal barrier" that means optimum conditions for king fishing.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2012

Continue to keep your fingers crossed that we get a thermal barrier built up at the mouth of the Okanogan.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 12, 2012

The ceramic coating acts as a thermal barrier to hold heat in the pipe for more consistent running and it also is very resistant to corrosion/rust plus it looks great.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023