heat wave
Americannoun
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a period of abnormally hot and usually humid weather; heat event.
I moved to the coast up north because summer back home has become one long, unbearable heat wave.
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an air mass of high temperature covering an extended area and moving relatively slowly.
Another heat wave is expected to form across the South and into the Northeast by week’s end.
noun
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a continuous spell of abnormally hot weather
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(not in technical use) an extensive slow-moving air mass at a relatively high temperature
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of heat wave
First recorded in 1875–80
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.
Now sweating her way through a record-breaking heat wave, Kloc is ready to admit that she was wrong.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
Next week’s expected heat wave brings an elevated risk of fire, the Weather Service noted in an X post, “with drying fuels & tall fire plume potential over the valleys and mountains.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2026
The researchers closely examined an intense Alaska heat wave that lasted from June 23-July 10, 2019.
From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026
India is already enduring a brutal heat wave, and the forecast points to below-average rainfall in the coming monsoon.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
During the heat wave, Chicagoans were advised to cool off at the beach.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
