radiator

[ rey-dee-ey-ter ]
See synonyms for radiator on Thesaurus.com
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.

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

  2. Radio. a transmitting antenna.

Origin of radiator

1
First recorded in 1830–40; radiate + -or2

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use radiator in a sentence

  • There is no hot water, and most of the radiators are broken.

    In Italy, Angry Students Occupy Schools | Barbie Latza Nadeau | November 22, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • There were to be four radiators downstairs and three upstairs, one in the bathroom, one in the hall, and one in a chamber.

    The Idyl of Twin Fires | Walter Prichard Eaton
  • Gradually the relaxing steam-radiators began to grunt and grumble into a chill quietude.

    Molly Make-Believe | Eleanor Hallowell Abbott
  • Oil lines and radiators seemed all tight and when he swung the propeller, the motor purred for him like a cat.

    The Onslaught from Rigel | Fletcher Pratt
  • I preset two forward radiators for forty kilometers at low condensation, with a three kilometer radius at surface.

    Indirection | Everett B. Cole
  • The four met in the corridor after breakfast and discussed their mission beside one of the radiators.

    Left Half Harmon | Ralph Henry Barbour

British Dictionary definitions for radiator

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

  1. Australian and NZ an electric fire

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

  3. an electric space heater

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

Scientific definitions for radiator

radiator

[ dē-ā′tər ]


  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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.