Phrase guide

heat wave

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈhit weɪv/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A period of exceptionally hot weather.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: cold spell, cold wave

2

noun

Meaning 2

A period of exceptionally hot weather.

Three consecutive days with daytime high temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, idiomatic

Topics: broadcasting, climatology, media, meteorology, natural-sciences, weather

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: cold spell, cold wave

3

noun

Meaning 3

A period of exceptionally hot weather.

A period of at least three consecutive days with daily high temperatures of the respective county's temperature threshold or higher.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, idiomatic

Topics: broadcasting, climatology, media, meteorology, natural-sciences, weather

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: cold spell, cold wave

4

noun

Meaning 4

An electromagnetic wave in the infrared spectrum.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a wave of unusually hot weather

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wave

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

62 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: zagushi — period of very hot weather
  • Albanian: morovinë — period of very hot weather
  • Albanian: zabullinë — period of very hot weather
  • Arabic: مَوْجَة اَلْحَرّ (mawjat al-ḥarr) — period of very hot weather
  • Azerbaijani: bürkü — period of very hot weather
  • Chinese Mandarin: 熱浪 /热浪 (rèlàng) — period of very hot weather
  • Czech: vlna veder — period of very hot weather
  • Danish: hedebølge — period of very hot weather
  • Dutch: hittegolf — period of very hot weather
  • Esperanto: varmondo — period of very hot weather
  • Estonian: kuumalaine — period of very hot weather
  • Estonian: leitsak — period of very hot weather
  • Faroese: hitabylgja — period of very hot weather
  • Finnish: helleaalto — period of very hot weather
  • Finnish: lämpöaalto — period of very hot weather
  • French: vague de chaleur — period of very hot weather
  • French: canicule — period of very hot weather
  • Georgian: თბური ტალღა (tburi ṭalɣa) — period of very hot weather
  • Georgian: სითბური ტალღა (sitburi ṭalɣa) — period of very hot weather
  • Georgian: სიცხის ტალღა (sicxis ṭalɣa) — period of very hot weather
  • Georgian: პაპანაქება (ṗaṗanakeba) — period of very hot weather
  • Georgian: ძლიერი სიცხის პერიოდი (ʒlieri sicxis ṗeriodi) — period of very hot weather
  • German: Hitzewelle — period of very hot weather
  • Greek: καύσωνας (káfsonas) — period of very hot weather
  • Cypriot Greek: λάλλαρος (lállaros) — period of very hot weather
  • Cypriot Greek: πύρουλλος (pýroullos) — period of very hot weather
  • Hebrew: גל חום (gal khóm) — period of very hot weather
  • Hebrew: חמסין — period of very hot weather
  • Hebrew: שרב — period of very hot weather
  • Hungarian: kánikula — period of very hot weather
  • Hungarian: hőhullám — period of very hot weather
  • Icelandic: hitabylgja — period of very hot weather
  • Indonesian: gelombang panas — period of very hot weather
  • Irish: tonn teaspaigh — period of very hot weather
  • Irish: tonn teasa — period of very hot weather
  • Italian: ondata di caldo — period of very hot weather
  • Japanese: 熱波 (neppa) — period of very hot weather
  • Japanese: 酷暑 (kokusho) — period of very hot weather
  • Korean: 열파 (yeolpa) — period of very hot weather
  • Malayalam: ഉഷ്ണതരംഗം (uṣṇataraṅgaṁ) — period of very hot weather
  • Māori: hīrangi — period of very hot weather
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hetebølge — period of very hot weather
  • Persian: موج گرما (mowj-e garmâ) — period of very hot weather
  • Polish: upał — period of very hot weather
  • Portuguese: onda de calor — period of very hot weather
  • Romanian: val de căldură — period of very hot weather
  • Romanian: caniculă — period of very hot weather
  • Russian: жара́ (žará) — period of very hot weather
  • Russian: зной (znoj) — period of very hot weather
  • Russian: пери́од си́льной жары́ (períod sílʹnoj žarý) — period of very hot weather
  • Sanskrit: उष्मातरङ्ग (uṣmātaraṅga) — period of very hot weather
  • Lower Sorbian: nawal górcoty — period of very hot weather
  • Upper Sorbian: horcota žołma — period of very hot weather
  • Spanish: ola de calor — period of very hot weather
  • Spanish: vaharada calórica — period of very hot weather
  • Spanish: vaharada térmica — period of very hot weather
  • Spanish: vaharada calorífica — period of very hot weather
  • Swahili: wimbijoto — period of very hot weather
  • Swedish: värmebölja — period of very hot weather
  • Ukrainian: спе́ка (spéka) — period of very hot weather
  • Vietnamese: sóng nhiệt — period of very hot weather
  • Welsh: poethdon — period of very hot weather