Standard Lemma guide

microwave

noun · verb · 7 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.

  • mī'krə-wāv"
  • /ˈmaɪkɹəˌweɪv/
  • Received-Pronunciation: mī'krō-wāv"
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmaɪkɹəʊˌweɪv/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈmaɪkɹoʊˌweɪv/
  • CMU ARPABET: M AY1 K R AH0 W EY2 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An electromagnetic wave with wavelength between that of infrared light and radio waves.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Many radar systems use a combination of radio waves and microwaves.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: SHF

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: radio wave, wave

2

noun

Meaning 2

Ellipsis of microwave oven.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis

Examples

  • Just put it in the microwave for 30 seconds and it's ready to eat.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To cook (something) in a microwave oven.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nuke, microcook, zap

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To provide minimal preparation for implementation, deeming full or extensive preparation as unnecessary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: slang, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

kitchen appliance that cooks food by passing an electromagnetic wave through it; heat results from the absorption of energy by the water molecules in the food

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: microwave oven

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: kitchen appliance

6

noun

Meaning 6

a short electromagnetic wave (longer than infrared but shorter than radio waves); used for radar and microwave ovens and for transmitting telephone, facsimile, video and data

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic wave, nonparticulate radiation

7

verb

Meaning 7

cook or heat in a microwave oven

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • You can microwave the leftovers

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: micro-cook, zap, nuke

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cook

History

Etymology

From micro- + wave.

Across languages

Translations

107 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: mikrogolf — electromagnetic wave
  • Albanian: mikrovalë — electromagnetic wave
  • Arabic: مَوْجَة الْمَيْكْرُووِيف (mawjat al-maykruwīv) — electromagnetic wave
  • Arabic: مَوْجَة دَقِيقَة (mawja daqīqa) — electromagnetic wave
  • Arabic: مَوْجَة مَيْكْرُوِيَّة (mawja maykruwiyya) — electromagnetic wave
  • Arabic: مَوْجَة صِغْرِيَّة (mawja ṣiḡriyya) — electromagnetic wave
  • Armenian: միկրոալիք (mikroalikʻ) — electromagnetic wave
  • Azerbaijani: mikrodalga — electromagnetic wave
  • Basque: mikrouhin — electromagnetic wave
  • Belarusian: мікрахва́ля (mikraxválja) — electromagnetic wave
  • Bengali: অণুতরঙ্গ (onutoroṅgo) — electromagnetic wave
  • Bengali: মাইক্রোওয়েভ (maikrōōẇebh) — electromagnetic wave
  • Bulgarian: микровълна́ (mikrovǎlná) — electromagnetic wave
  • Burmese: မိုက်ခရိုဝေ့ (muikhka.ruiwe.) — electromagnetic wave
  • Catalan: microona — electromagnetic wave
  • Chinese Mandarin: 微波 (wēibō) — electromagnetic wave
  • Cornish: korrdon — electromagnetic wave
  • Czech: mikrovlna — electromagnetic wave
  • Danish: mikrobølge — electromagnetic wave
  • Dutch: microgolf — electromagnetic wave
  • Esperanto: mikroondo — electromagnetic wave
  • Estonian: mikrolaine — electromagnetic wave
  • Finnish: mikroaalto — electromagnetic wave
  • French: micro-onde — electromagnetic wave
  • Georgian: მიკროტალღა (miḳroṭalɣa) — electromagnetic wave
  • German: Mikrowelle — electromagnetic wave
  • Greek: μικροκύμα (mikrokýma) — electromagnetic wave
  • Hebrew: מִיקְרוֹגַל (mikrogál) — electromagnetic wave
  • Hindi: माइक्रोवेव (māikrovev) — electromagnetic wave
  • Hindi: सूक्ष्मतरंग (sūkṣmatraṅg) — electromagnetic wave
  • Hungarian: mikrohullám — electromagnetic wave
  • Icelandic: örbylgja — electromagnetic wave
  • Ido: mikro-ondi — electromagnetic wave
  • Indonesian: gelombang mikro — electromagnetic wave
  • Irish: micreathonn — electromagnetic wave
  • Italian: microonda — electromagnetic wave
  • Japanese: マイクロ波 (maikuroha) — electromagnetic wave
  • Japanese: マイクロウェーブ (maikuroweebu) — electromagnetic wave
  • Kazakh: микротолқын (mikrotolqyn) — electromagnetic wave
  • Khmer: រលកខ្លីហួសកំរិត (rɔɔrɔlɔɔk khləy huəh kɑmrɨt) — electromagnetic wave
  • Korean: 마이크로파 (maikeuropa) — electromagnetic wave
  • Kyrgyz: микротолкун (mikrotolkun) — electromagnetic wave
  • Lao: ຈຸນລະຄື້ນ (chun la khư̄n) — electromagnetic wave
  • Latvian: mikrovilnis — electromagnetic wave
  • Lithuanian: mikrobanga — electromagnetic wave
  • Macedonian: ми́кробран (míkrobran) — electromagnetic wave
  • Malay: gelombang mikro — electromagnetic wave
  • Malay: mikrogelombang — electromagnetic wave
  • Manx: meegra-honn — electromagnetic wave
  • Mongolian: бичил долгион (bičil dolgion) — electromagnetic wave
  • Norman: micro-onde — electromagnetic wave
  • Norman: micro-louême — electromagnetic wave
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mikrobølge — electromagnetic wave
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mikrobylgje — electromagnetic wave
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: mikrobølgje — electromagnetic wave
  • Occitan: microonda — electromagnetic wave
  • Iranian Persian: مایْکْرووِیْو (mâykroveyv) — electromagnetic wave
  • Iranian Persian: کِهْمُوْج (kehmowj) — electromagnetic wave
  • Iranian Persian: ریزْمُوْج (rizmowj) — electromagnetic wave
  • Polish: mikrofala — electromagnetic wave
  • Portuguese: micro-onda — electromagnetic wave
  • Romanian: microundă — electromagnetic wave
  • Russian: микроволна́ (mikrovolná) — electromagnetic wave
  • Scottish Gaelic: meanbh-thonn — electromagnetic wave
  • Serbo-Croatian: микроталас — electromagnetic wave
  • Serbo-Croatian: микровал — electromagnetic wave
  • Serbo-Croatian: mikrotalas — electromagnetic wave
  • Serbo-Croatian: mikroval — electromagnetic wave
  • Slovak: mikrovlna — electromagnetic wave
  • Slovene: mikroval — electromagnetic wave
  • Spanish: microonda — electromagnetic wave
  • Sundanese: ᮌᮨᮜᮧᮙ᮪ᮘᮀ ᮙᮤᮊᮢᮧ (gelombang mikro) — electromagnetic wave
  • Swedish: mikrovåg — electromagnetic wave
  • Tagalog: mikliboy — electromagnetic wave
  • Tajik: майкровейв (maykroveyv) — electromagnetic wave
  • Tajik: микромавҷ (mikromavj) — electromagnetic wave
  • Tatar: микродулкын (mikrodulqın) — electromagnetic wave
  • Telugu: సూక్ష్మతరంగము (sūkṣmataraṅgamu) — electromagnetic wave
  • Thai: ไมโครเวฟ (mai-kroo-wéep) — electromagnetic wave
  • Turkish: mikrodalga — electromagnetic wave
  • Turkmen: mikrotolkun — electromagnetic wave
  • Ukrainian: мікрохви́ля (mikroxvýlja) — electromagnetic wave
  • Uyghur: مىكرو دولقۇن (mikro dolqun) — electromagnetic wave
  • Uzbek: mikrodalga — electromagnetic wave
  • Vietnamese: vi ba — electromagnetic wave
  • Vietnamese: vi sóng — electromagnetic wave
  • Welsh: microdon — electromagnetic wave
  • Yiddish: מיקראָכוואַליע (mikrokhvalye) — electromagnetic wave
  • Bulgarian: микровълнова (mikrovǎlnova) — ellipsis of microwave oven — see also microwave oven
  • Italian: microonde — ellipsis of microwave oven — see also microwave oven
  • Chinese Cantonese: 咪 (mai1) — cook in a microwave oven
  • Chinese Cantonese: 叮 (ding1) — cook in a microwave oven
  • Chinese Cantonese: 叮熱 /叮热 (ding1 jit6) — cook in a microwave oven
  • Chinese Mandarin: 微波加熱 /微波加热 (wēibō jiārè) — cook in a microwave oven
  • Finnish: valmistaa mikrossa — cook in a microwave oven
  • French: micro-onder — cook in a microwave oven
  • German: but see in der Mikrowelle aufwärmen — cook in a microwave oven
  • Italian: microondare — cook in a microwave oven
  • Japanese: チンする (chinsuru) — cook in a microwave oven
  • Norman: micro-louêmer — cook in a microwave oven
  • Russian: гото́вить в микроволно́вой печи́ (gotóvitʹ v mikrovolnóvoj pečí) — cook in a microwave oven
  • Spanish: microondear — cook in a microwave oven
  • Swedish: mikra — cook in a microwave oven
  • Swedish: värma — cook in a microwave oven
  • Thai: เวฟ (wêef) — cook in a microwave oven
  • Turkish: mikrodalgada pişirmek — cook in a microwave oven
  • Welsh: coginio mewn microdon — cook in a microwave oven
Real reading context

microwave in complete knowledge articles