radiator

[rey-dee-ey-ter]

noun

1. a person or thing that radiates.

2. any of various heating devices, as a series or coil of pipes through which steam or hot water passes.

3. a device constructed from thin-walled tubes and metal fins, used for cooling circulating water, as in an automobile engine.

4. Radio.,  a transmitting antenna.

radiator

/ ˈreɪdɪˌeɪtə /

noun

1. a device for heating a room, building, etc, consisting of a series of pipes through which hot water or steam passes

2. a device for cooling an internal-combustion engine, consisting of thin-walled tubes through which water passes. Heat is transferred from the water through the walls of the tubes to the airstream, which is created either by the motion of the vehicle or by a fan

3. an electric fire

4. electronics the part of an aerial or transmission line that radiates electromagnetic waves

5. an electric space heater

radiator

1. A body that emits radiation. Radiators are commonly designed to transfer heat energy from one place to another, as in an automobile, in which the radiator cools the engine by transferring heat energy from the engine to the air, or in buildings, where radiators transfer heat energy from a furnace to the air and objects in the surrounding room.

Word History and Origins

Origin of radiator¹

First recorded in 1830–40; radiate + -or ²

Example Sentences

That could include turning off radiators in unused rooms, switching off lights when they are not needed, and not leaving electrical appliances on standby.

Read more on BBC

The radiators make quite the racket and the electricity seems to have a mind of its own.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Bread of Angels” does take readers to March 9, 1976, the night Smith met the love of her life, standing next to a radiator in a hot dog emporium in downtown Detroit.

Read more on Salon

Woolley was president and chief executive of American Radiator, an early maker of radiators and a pioneer in developing central heating systems.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But it did include a hand-drawn map of a suggested dead-drop location: the entryway of a Moscow apartment building where a package could be hidden behind a radiator.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• boiler 
• fastball 
• furnace 
• oven 
• stove