heater

[hee-ter]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR heater ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any of various apparatus for heating, especially for heating water or the air in a room.

Electronics. the element of a vacuum tube that carries the current for heating a cathode.

Slang. a pistol, revolver, or other firearm.

Origin of heater

First recorded in 1490–1500; heat + -er¹

Related formsre·heat·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for heater

stove, oven, furnace, radiator, boiler, fastball, pistol, convector, etna, gat

Examples from the Web for heater

Contemporary Examples of heater

The two were sitting in front of a heater one November afternoon when Apple had a eureka moment.
The Original Apple Icon
Anthony Haden-Guest
October 6, 2010
"We had bedbugs before they were cool, before they were hip," says Heater.
Vigilante Bedbug Exterminators
Brian Ries
August 27, 2010

Historical Examples of heater

Without waiting for a reply, she removed one of the covers of the heater.
The Fat and the Thin
Emile Zola
Joe was a boy that did odd jobs about the house, and was familiar with the heater.
Polly of Lady Gay Cottage
Emma C. Dowd
The pipes were growing warm, and the heater could safely be left to care for itself.
Polly of Lady Gay Cottage
Emma C. Dowd
I've got chains on the rear and a heater in the old coupe, so it shouldn't be so bad.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
Various
Feedback will be to a master control servo that'll activate the heater or cooler.
Question of Comfort
Les Collins

British Dictionary definitions for heater

heater

noun

any device for supplying heat, such as a hot-air blower, radiator, convector, etc

US slang a pistol

electronics a conductor carrying a current that indirectly heats the cathode in some types of valve

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

Word Origin and History for heater

c.1500, of persons, agent noun from heat. Of devices, from 1660s. Baseball slang meaning "fastball" is attested by 1985.