Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

heat wave

or heat·wave

[heet-weyv]
See more synonyms for heat wave on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an air mass of high temperature covering an extended area and moving relatively slowly.
  2. a period of abnormally hot and usually humid weather.
Show More

Origin of heat wave

First recorded in 1875–80
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for heat wave

Historical Examples

  • We were in a furnace—a heat-wave in which we were like to drown.

    Hesperothen; Notes from the West, Vol. 1 (of 2)

    W. H. Russell

  • The first touched upon an untimely, although welcome, heat-wave.

  • The heat-wave had put forward the almanac, and the Newport season was in full swing nearly a month in advance of its usual date.

  • Because, five weeks later, there was a heat-wave in the Red Sea, and everybody took off all the clothes they had.

    Just So Stories

    Rudyard Kipling

British Dictionary definitions for heat wave

heat wave

noun
  1. a continuous spell of abnormally hot weather
  2. (not in technical use) an extensive slow-moving air mass at a relatively high temperature
Show More
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