heat-seeking
Britishadjective
-
(of a detecting device) able to detect sources of infrared radiation
a heat-seeking camera
-
(of a missile) able to detect and follow a source of heat, as from an aircraft engine
a heat-seeking missile
Other Word Forms
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.
They also reportedly have dispensers for chaff -- metal shavings that distract radar-guided missiles -- and flares that blind heat-seeking missiles.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Defense Department has placed significantly fewer orders for Alloy Surfaces’ pyrophoric airborne decoys, which the company manufactures in Philadelphia and are used as protection against heat-seeking missiles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025
And Moutra is like a heat-seeking missile when he launches toward the ballcarrier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
Three such titles this year are a heat-seeking troika that involve American notables who, after a period of relative domestic quiet, have showily returned to the international stage.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2024
He had to have been thinking a bomb was about to drop, that Cade Hernandez was about to deploy a heat-seeking missile.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
![]()
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.