▪ I. heat, n.
(hiːt)
Forms: 1 hǽto, hǽtu, hǽte, 2–3 hæte, 2–6 hete, 3, 6–7 heate, 6– heat, (4–5 hette, heite, 4–6 heete, Sc. heit, 4–5 het, 5 heyte, 5–6 heet).
[OE. hǽtu, hǽto, str. fem., also hǽte wk. fem.; the former = OFris. hête, MDu. hête, heete, heite, OHG. heiȥî:—OTeut. *haitîn-, f. *haito- hot: cf. brede, heal ns.; hǽte corresponds to a type *haitjôn-. Other words from same root (hit, hît, hait), differing in ablaut-grade and suffix, are Ger. hitze, OHG. hizza, OS. hittia, Du. hitte:—OTeut. *hitjâ-, also ON. hite masc., and Goth. heitô fever.]
1. a. The quality of being hot; that quality or condition of matter which produces the sensation described in b; often regarded as a substance or thing contained in or issuing from bodies: esp. In ordinary use, A high or sensible degree of this quality; the condition of being hot; high temperature; warmth.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xviii. 7 [xix. 6] Ne is se ðe hine ahyde from haeto his. 971 Blickl. Hom. 51 Þære sunnan hæto þe þas eorþan hlyweþ. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 119 Fir haueð on him þre mihtes, on to giuende hete, oðer to giuende liht [etc.] c 1200 Ormin 1487 Þu..grindesst itt, annd cnedesst it, And harrdnesst itt wiþþ hæte. a 1300 Cursor M. 2248 Þe hette [v.r. hete] o þe sun. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Magdalena 116 Þe gret heit of þe sone. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 238/1 Hete, calor, estus. 1547 J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes G vij a, If there should bee twoo sonnes, it wer perill least their two heates should burne vp al the arth. 1553 Gau Richt Vay 108 As heit procedis fra y⊇ fyr. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. viii. 7 b, The..stoves of Germanie in the whiche with a small heate they do breed and hatch their egges. 1665 R. Hooke Microgr. 39 A Thermometer, thus marked and prepared, will be the fittest Instrument to make a Standard of heat and cold. 1731 Arbuthnot Aliments 6 The Heat in Land Animals helps likewise to the Solution of the Aliment. 1870 Jevons Elem. Logic xxxiii. 291 Heat means ordinarily the excess of temperature above the ordinary mean. |
b. The sensation or perception of this quality or condition; one of the primary sensations, produced by contact with or nearness to fire or any body at a high temperature, and also by various other causes,
e.g. by any agency that quickens the circulation of the blood.
(In early use not easily separable from that which causes the sensation, the external or internal quality (senses 1, 4); see
esp. quots. 1225, 1375 in 4 c.)
| a 1704 [see 2]. 1794 J. Hutton Philos. Light, etc. 19 When we approach the fire, our sense informs us in a particular manner; and this we name heat, which is then purely a sensation. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. i. i. §6 We can neither feel nor know heat, except in the transition from cold. 1865–72 Watts Dict. Chem. III. 15 The word Heat is used in common language, both as the name of a particular kind of sensation, and to denote that condition of matter in which it is capable of producing this sensation in us. |
c. With adjectives of colour, used in reference to the appearance of metals and some other substances when at certain high temperatures, as
blue heat,
red heat,
white heat; also with other defining words, as
animal heat,
blood-heat,
fever heat, etc.: see these words.
| 1703 Moxon Mech. Ex. 8 Several degrees of Heats Smiths take of their Iron..As first, a Blood-red Heat. Secondly, a White Flame Heat. Thirdly, a Sparkling, or Welding Heat. |
2. a. In
Physics, formerly supposed to be an elastic material fluid (
caloric n.), of extreme subtility, attracted and absorbed by all bodies; now held to be a form of
energy,
viz. the kinetic and potential energy of the invisible molecules of bodies, capable of being transmitted from one body to another, whether in contact (see
conduction 6,
convection) or separated (see
radiation): in the latter case, the energy during the transmission takes the form of
b. radiant heat, which is not properly heat at all, but the energy of vibration of the intervening ether, being identical, within a certain range of wave-length, with light.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §99 It is certaine, that of all Powers in Nature, Heat is the chiefe. 1665 R. Hooke Microgr. 37 Heat is a property of a body arising from the motion or agitation of its parts; and therefore whatever body is thereby toucht must necessarily receive some part of that motion, whereby its parts will be shaken. Ibid. Table 248 Experiments to shew, that bodies expand by heat. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iii. i. 121 note, Heat and Fire differ but in degree: and Heat is Fire, only in lesser quantity. Fire I shall shew to be a Fluid consisting of Parts extremely small and light and consequently very subtile, active, and susceptive of Motion. a 1704 Locke Elem. Nat. Phil. xi. (R.), Heat is a very brisk agitation of the insensible parts of the object; which produces in us that sensation, from whence we denominate the object hot: so what in our sensation is heat, in the object is nothing but motion. 1760 J. Black Inq. Nat. Heat 529 But heat is evidently not passive; it is an expansive fluid, which dilates in consequence of the repulsion subsisting among its own particles. 1833 N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. 10 Heat cannot be exhibited apart, nor proved to have weight or inertia. c 1860 Faraday Forces Nat. iii. 79 Whenever we diminish the attraction of cohesion we absorb heat. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. viii. §66 That mode of force which we distinguish as Heat, is now generally regarded by physicists as molecular motion. 1879 Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. I. i. §385 The Dynamical Theory of Heat..is based upon the conclusion from experiment that heat is a form of energy. |
| b. 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. I. iv. App. 157 The nature and properties of what has been called radiant heat. 1800 Herschel in Phil. Trans. XC. 291 If we call light, those rays which illuminate objects, and radiant heat, those which heat bodies, it may be inquired, whether light be essentially different from radiant heat? a 1832 Sir J. Leslie Dissert. in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) I. 646/2 Scheele pursued a similar path..[That] which streams immediately from its source in rectilineal directions..he designated [c 1775] by the phrase Radiant Heat, which has since become a favourite appellation. 1834 M. Somerville Connect. Phys. Sc. xxv. (1849) 240 Radiant heat passes through the gases with the same facility as light. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 309 Radiant heat from an open fire. |
c. latent heat (Physics): the heat required to convert a solid into liquid or vapour, or a liquid into vapour; which, as it does not raise the temperature and so become sensible to the touch as warmth, was regarded as being absorbed and remaining latent in the resulting liquid or vapour.
Now viewed as the energy absorbed during the change of state, partly in increasing the molecular potential energy of the body, and partly in compressing external bodies.
| c 1757 J. Black Lect. (1803) I. 157 Considered as the cause of warmth, we do not perceive its presence; it is concealed or latent, and I gave it the name of latent heat. 1765 Reid Let. Wks. I. 42/2, I have attended Dr. Black's lectures hitherto. His doctrine of latent heat is the only thing I have yet heard that is altogether new. 1787 Keir in Phil. Trans. LXXVII. 277 The heats absorbed and rendered latent, as some late philosophers express themselves. 1799 Phil. Mag. III. 419 A great quantity of vaporific, or, as it is called, latent heat, is carried off by the steam of water. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 466 A portion of the steam is at first condensed into water, and the temperature of the water is raised by the latent heat evolved. |
d. specific heat (Physics): the heat required to raise the temperature of a given substance to a given extent (usually one degree); it is calculated relatively to some standard substance, usually water (see
quot. 1871), and forms a measure of the given substance's
capacity for heat.
| a 1832 Sir J. Leslie in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) I. 645/2 The best series of experiments on the distribution of heat among different bodies was performed before the year 1784 by Professor Gadolin of Abo, who, rejecting the notion of Capacity, introduced the unexceptionable expression, Specific Heat. 1842 Brande Dict. Sci., etc., s.v., The term specific heat is applied to the quantity of thermometric heat required to raise different substances to the same temperature..The specific heat of water being = 1, that of oil is 0·5. 1863 Tyndall Heat (1870) 139 As the specific heat increases, the atomic weight diminishes, and vice versa. 1871 Maxwell The. Heat iii. 66 The Specific Heat of a body is the ratio of the quantity of heat required to raise that body one degree to the quantity required to raise an equal weight of water one degree. 1881 Nature No. 627. 15 Platinum has a specific heat of only ·032. |
e. atomic heat,
molecular heat (
Chem.): the product of the specific heat of a substance into its atomic or molecular weight: see
quots.| 1850 Graham Elem. Chem. I. 139 The atomic heat of bodies, as it is named by this chemist [M. Regnault, 1841], is obtained by multiplying the observed specific heat of each body by its equivalent. 1865–72 Watts Dict. Chem. III. 37 Within certain classes of allied compounds..the molecular heats of the substances..or the products of their specific heats into their molecular weights..are approximately equal..As a rule, the molecular heat of solid compound bodies increases with the number of atoms contained in their molecule. |
3. spec. a. A hot condition of the atmosphere or physical environment; hot weather or climate: often spoken of as an agent perceptible by its effects (
cf. cold n. 1 a).
| c 825 Vesp. Hymns viii. 8 Bledsiað cele and hætu dryhten. c 1000 Ags. G. Matt. xx. 12 Gelice us þe bæron byrþena on þises dæᵹes hæton. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1438 Now es cald, now es hete, Now es dry, and now es wete. 1382 Wyclif Gen. viii. 22 All the daies of the erthe, seed and ripe, coold and hete, somer and wynter, nyȝt and day, shulen not rest. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 41 If hit [water] be cole in hete an luke in colde. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 2 In September..Quhen passyt by the hycht was off the hette [v.r. heit]. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1145 Some dark deep desert..That knows not parching heat nor freezing cold. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 581 Weary with his Toil, and scorch'd with Heat. 1799 Med. Jrnl. I. 78 Throughout a great part of September, the heat continued with little sign of abatement. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 4, I had not felt the heat before, save as a beautiful exaggeration of sun⁓shine. |
b. (with
pl.) An instance of this condition; a hot period or season.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 106 The cheles bothe and eke the hetes. 1448 Prose Chron. in R. Glouc. (1724) 520 This yere [1252] was a gret hete and droughthe in Engelond. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 12 After a hete oft cometh a stormy colde. 1573–80 Baret Alv. H 333 The great heates are abated. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. 267 The heats not being excessive, nor the colds severe. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. i. i. 19 The chief resorts of the Bedouin tribes during the summer heats. |
c. A hot place; a fire.
| 1382 Wyclif Acts xxviii. 3 An eddre, whanne she cam forth fro the heete, asailide his hond. a 1400 Sir Perc. 862 He keste the wiche in the hete. 1611 Bible Acts xxviii. 3 There came a Uiper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. |
d. High temperature produced by fermentation or putrefaction, as in a hotbed; hence applied
concr. to a hotbed,
esp. in
phr. in heat.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 49 Thei..coveren hem [Eyren of Hennes, etc.] with Hete of Hors Dong, with outen Henne, Goos or Doke, or any other Foul. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 189 The Dung..must have pass'd its first Heat, lest apply'd before, it burn the Plant. 1724 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v., All Heat of Hot-Beds, Mr. Bradley says, proceeds from fermentation. 1796 C. Marshall Garden. xix. (1815) 385 Some chuse to forward them on heat, in March and April. 1887 Gardening 3 Dec. 531/1 Those that are wanted to come in early may at once be put in heat. 1887 Ibid. 17 Dec. 567/3 Strike them..in a moderate bottom-heat. |
4. As a quality or condition of animal bodies.
a. The normal high temperature of the body in warm-blooded animals; the warmth characteristic of a living body (
natural heat,
vital heat).
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 328 Whan we holde waxen, Whan mihte lakken our limus & lesen our hete, We schulle forleten oure lif. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 251 The life hath lost his kindely hete, And he lay dede as any stone. 1563 W. Fulke Meteors (1640) 31 The vitall heat is quite extinguished. 1697 Dryden æneid iii. 397 Astonished at the sight, the vital heat Forsakes her limbs. |
b. High temperature in the body arising from a disordered condition, as in inflammation or fever; inflamed or feverish state.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 82 Gif se lichoma hwær mid hefiᵹhere hæto sy ᵹebysᵹod. Ibid. 84 Wiþ wunda hatum ᵹenim þonne weᵹbrædan þa wyrt. c 1205 Lay. 30550 Þa iwarð þe king..hafde þat uuel hate. a 1535 More Wks. 572 (R.) No more then the heate of a feuer is a right natural heate. 1573–80 Baret Alv. H 333 It helpeth the head ach, the burning heat of the eies, and other inflammations. 1597 Gerarde Herbal (1633) 171 The iuyce [of onions] taketh away the heate of scalding with water or oyle. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia I. viii. 272 The burning heat of his skin. 1862 J. B. Harrison Lett. Dis. Children 192 There is room for more apprehension..if there be no febrile heat. |
c. A condition of the body in which the general surface temperature is higher than usual, producing the sensation described under 1 b; the state of feeling hot.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1701 Ne eileð þer na mon..nowðer heate ne chele nowðer hunger ne þurst. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Paulus 912 He tholit..bath gret hungir & het. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xx. 452 For there nys noo man so oolde, but he sholde soone gete hete there wythin a lityll while. 1573–80 Baret Alv. H 333 When they were in heate with drinking. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. ii, Where over-toil'd, her heat to cool, She bathes her in the pleasant Pool. 1887 Princess Christian Mem. Margrav. Baireuth 383 The soldiers..having got into a fearful state of heat, threw themselves into cold water. |
d. with
a (rarely in
pl.): An instance of this bodily condition.
† to catch or get a heat: to become hot or warm (
obs.).
| a 1400–50 Alexander 3803 A litill drysnynge of dewe..[he] bringis it to oure balde kyng to brigge with his hetis. 1508 Dunbar Tua mariit Wemen 222 Me think ther haldin ȝow a hete, as ȝe sum harme alyt. a 1529 Skelton Dyuers Balettys Poet. Wks. 1843 II. 22 After her cold she cought a hete. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. (Arb.) 302 When she walketh apace for her pleasure, or to catch her a heate in the colde mornings. 1887 Rita Lady Nancye i. ix. 37 To commence, he was in a profuse heat. |
† 5. In mediæval physiology, as a quality of ‘elements’, ‘humours’, and bodies in general: see
hot a.
Obs.| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 100 The drie coler with his hete By wey of kinde his propre sete Hath in the galle. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xiv. (1495) 58 Bi hete and wete the vertue inmutatiua werkyth the softer substaunce. 1610 P. Barrough Meth. Physick i. ii. (1639) 2 By heat in this Chapter is meant a hot distemper without any kind of humour. 1626 Bacon Sylva §758 Doues are the fullest of Heat and Moisture amongst Birds. |
6. The quality of being ‘hot’ in taste; strength or pungency of flavour.
| 1586 B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 190 b, She caused the heate of the wine to be delayed with water. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vii. 21 The heat of the Ginger. 1626 Bacon Sylva §863 The Root [orris root] seemeth to haue a Tender dainty Heat. |
7. a. A redness or eruption on the skin, accompanied by a sensation of heat, or indicating inflammation.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal (1633) 999 The ripe Straw-berries..take away..the rednesse and heate of the face. 1676 Lond. Gaz. No. 1146/4 A black brown [Nag] having a little heat on his fore-feet. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 57 ¶5, I have seen a Woman's Face break out in Heats, as she has been talking against a great Lord. 1773 (title), The History of a Gentleman cured of Heats in the Face. |
b. prickly heat: a skin disease common in hot climates (
Lichen tropicus), characterized by minute papulæ formed by the hyperæmia of the sweat follicles.
| 1736 Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 37 She had only the prickly heat, a sort of rash, very common here in summer. 1874 Dunglison Med. Dict., Prickly Heat, Lichen Tropicus. The pimples are bright red..with heat, itching, and scratching. |
† 8. a. A heating (in
phr. to give a heat to).
Obs. exc. as in b.
| c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 22 Sette it on þe fyre, an ȝif it an hete. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxvi. 77 Thay gaif thame in the fyre a heit. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 114, I woulde desyre all bowyers to season theyr staues well, to woorke them and synke them well, to giue them heetes conuenient and tyllerynges plentye. |
b. A single operation of heating, as of iron in a furnace; hence
concr. the quantity of metal heated at one operation.
| 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Glasse Wks. (Rtldg.) 119, I have left my master striking of a heat and stole away. 1602 Life T. Cromwell i. ii. 79 You idle knaves..What, not a heat among your work to-day? 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 9 But if it be not..throughly welded at the first Heat, you must reiterate your Heats so oft. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 84 It [the..metal] is piled loosely in the middle of the furnace, and is called a heat. 1888 Sci. Amer. 21 Apr. 246/3 A field bakery of this kind can deliver 17,928 loaves of bread for nine ‘heats’, each loaf forming two rations. 1892 Labour Commission Gloss. s.v. Heats, The quantity of metal or steel placed in a puddling mill or Siemens furnace is called a heat. |
† c. A run given to a race-horse by way of exercise in preparation for a race.
Obs.| [1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 123 b, Then walke him to chafe him, and put him in a heate.] 1670 Evelyn Diary 22 July, The jockeys breathing their fine barbs and racers, and giving them their heats. 1683 Markham's Masterp. Revived Title-p., Containing Methods for the Training of Horses up for Racing, with their Heats and Courses. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Two heats in a week are reckoned a just measure for any horse..The jockeys lay it down as a rule, that one of the heats be given on the same day of the week whereon the horse is to run his match. |
9. fig. A single intense effort or bout of action; one continuous operation; a stroke, a ‘go’. Chiefly in
phr. at a heat. (Sometimes associated with 8 b.)
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2762 Capouns y-bake al-so tok he foure in þilke hete. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10288 Miche harme, in þat hete, happit to falle. 1676 Dryden Aurengz. ii. i, I'll strike my fortunes with him at a heat, And give him not the leisure to forget. 1681 ― Sp. Friar Ep. Ded., Neither can a true just play, which is to bear the test of ages, be produced at a heat. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. III. 26/2 One..shewed him a piece of Painting, with a boast, that he had done it at a single heat. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. p. iv, The new articles..having been ‘thrown off at a heat’, stood particularly in want of re-revision. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. viii. (1858) II. 12 On one occasion he hanged twenty heretics, including a minister, at a single heat. |
10. a. A single course in a race or other contest. (See also
dead heat n.)
| a 1663 Visct. Falkland Marriage Nt. ii. in Hazl. Dodsley XV. 129 And will ride his heats as cleanly as a dieted Gelding. 1673 Dryden Marr. à-la-Mode iv. i, I take heat after heat, like a well-breath'd Courser. 1675 Lond. Gaz. No. 1026/4 The second Plate will be Run for on the same Moor, by three Heats. 1697 Ibid. No. 3315/4 The same day in the morning will be run for, by Women, a Smock of 5l. value, 3 Heats, half a mile each Heat. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. lxxxviii. (Farmer), Seeing his antagonist distanced in the first and second heats. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. ii. 82 These contests are extended to two or three heats or trials. 1873 Bennett & ‘Cavendish’ Billiards 12 He won three heats of 100 up, and in the second heat made 22 spot-hazards. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1685 Dryden Epil. to Albion & Albanius 4 Feigned Zeal, you saw, set out the speedier pace; But the last heat, Plain Dealing won the race. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 222 He that gives out, at the last Heat, loses the Benefit of all his labours and successes in the former. 1817 Byron Let. to Murray 5 Apr., As for ‘Manfred’, the first two acts are the best; the third so so; but I was blown with the first and second heats. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis iv, Pen had started in the first heat of the mad race. |
† c. The ground on which a heat is run; a race-course.
Obs.| 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1741/4 The Plates are run for 3 times round the Round-Heat. 1701 Ibid. No. 3751/8, 3 Plates will be run for on the new Heat upon Epsom Downs. |
11. a. Intensity or great warmth of feeling; fervour, ardour, animation, vehemence, eagerness, excitement, passion, rage.
| c 825 Vesp. Hymns xi. 9 Se rehta ᵹeleafa mid hætu walle. c 1200 Ormin 13855 Off all soþ lufess hæte. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Katherine 386 In ire & in gret het. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 104 Dewe of grace..wiþ þe hete of charite. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 110 Fooles that in hete hasten hem so moche. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 107, I wyll..not departe for all this intemperate heate. 1580 Sidney Ps. vi. i, While thou art in the heate of thy displeasure. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. ii. 40 It is a businesse of some heate. 1649 Milton Eikon. (1770) 21 He was sorry to hear with what popular heat elections were carried in many places. 1694 F. Bragge Disc. Parables iv. 155 Many a man injures another in suddain heat and passion. 1834 L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 66 A lady, who spoke with some heat, and great volubility. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. iii. iii. (1888) 323 It was done in the heat of passion. 1958 Listener 30 Oct. 709/2 The heat is being pumped into utterly different quarrels. 1962 Ibid. 5 Apr. 587/1 His foreign minister..had set himself the task of taking the heat out of inter-Arab exchanges. 1964 Ann. Reg. 1963 100 This merely added more heat to the argument. |
b. (with
pl.) An instance of this: an access of feeling or intensity.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 111 He is sendere of alle holie heten. 1340 Ayenb. 124 Temperance aye þet zouþ aye þe wykkede hetes. 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. iii. (1883) 103 That he..myght eschewe the heetes and occasions of lecherye. 1565 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 238 Amplifications, or heats of speech, the better to stirre vp, and to enflame the minds of the Hearers. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 261 ¶6 When the first Heats of Desire are extinguished. 1856 W. Arthur Tongue of Fire ii. (1885) 27 The very head whose heats of ambition and of vindictiveness He had rebuked. |
c. (with
pl.) A fit of passion or anger;
† a quarrel, angry dispute (
obs.).
| 1549 W. Wrightman in Tytler Edw. VI & Mary (1839) I. 170 He was in a great heat. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 329 Betweene whom and the predecessors of these Monks there had beene great heats for the erection of the same. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. iii. 184 A vexatious dispute..which..signified no more than a Heat 'twixt two Oyster-wives in Billingsgate. 1733 Pope Hor. Sat. ii. i. 136 Fond to spread friendships, but to cover heats. 1804 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. III. 107 To keep alive heats and animosities. 1887 Edna Lyall Knt.-Errant xii. 106 Vexed! I was never in such a heat in my life. |
† d. As a personal quality: Passionateness, excitability, ardour of temperament.
Obs.| 1689 Burnet Tracts I. 44 One sees in them a heat, and bigotry beyond what appears either in France or Italy. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 440 ¶6 The Man of Heat replied to every Answer of his Antagonist with a louder Note than ordinary. 1718 Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell iii. cxix. 483 She should not choose People of Heat for her Companions. |
e. U.S. slang. A state of intoxication caused by alcohol or drugs,
esp. in
phr. to have a heat on.
| 1912 D. Lowrie My Life in Prison vii. 77 A few years ago this dump was full of dope. Every other man y'r met had a heat on, an' lots o' young kids what came here strong an' healthy went out with a habit. 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) ii. 41 The party is going big along toward one o'clock when all of a sudden in comes Handsome Jack Maddigan with half a heat on, and in five minutes he is all over the joint, drinking everything that is offered him. |
12. a. The intense or violent stage of any action; greatest vehemence or intensity; height, stress (
e.g. of conflict, debate, etc.).
| 1588 Queen Elizabeth in Nichols Progr. (1823) II. 536 Being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iv. iii. 19 To com vpon them, in the heate of their diuision. 1695 Lond. Gaz. No. 3098/2 The heat of the Action lasted about two hours. 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 42 At the first Heat of the Distemper. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1843) I. iii. 187 In the very heat of the war against the insurgent Catalans. 1944 ‘N. Shute’ Pastoral ix. 206 He wants to get you both off the station on leave till the heat goes off. 1970 E. R. Johnson God Keepers (1971) xii. 132 There was a lot of merit in having the ranking man right where the heat was going to be. |
b. slang (
orig. U.S.), in various interconnected senses, notably (
a) a gun (? as an instrument of ‘heat’); also
heater; (
b) in
phr. to turn on (or give) the heat, to use a gun, hence
fig.,
to turn the heat on (someone), to apply pressure on; (
c) involvement with or pursuit by the police; a police officer, the police.
| 1928 Amer. Mercury May 80/1 The greatest difficulty for such a mob was to avoid another's heat. Ibid., It's not so much your own heat you got to watch, but you're apt to run into a bunch of hoosiers out looking for another outfit just hot from some caper. 1929 Sat. Even. Post 13 Apr. 54/3 A pistol may be a heat... A man shooting a gun is fogging... ‘I fogged away with my heat until I pooped that dummy.’ 1929 Detective Fiction Weekly 9 Nov. 651/2 Aw, put up your heaters. If you bump me you don't git anywheres. 1930 Amer. Mercury Dec. 456/1 Either take our beer or it's plenty of heat for yours. 1931 G. Irwin Amer. Tramp & Underworld Slang 96 Heat, the state of mind of the police or public following a crime or series of crimes, when the people are ‘hot under the collar’ or ‘all heated up’. More lately, any trouble, as ‘in hot water’. 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) iii. 58 Maybe you remember John the Boss, and the heat which develops around and about when he is scragged in Detroit? 1932 W. R. Burnett Silver Eagle i. 7 ‘He don't even pack a heater.’ ‘Don't what?’ ‘He don't carry a gun.’ 1934 H. N. Rose Thesaurus of Slang iii. 16/2 Cover One with a Gun (v. phr.): to turn on the heat. 1936 J. G. Brandon Pawnshop Murder xxv. 246 You planted yourself in a safe spot to give Lou the heat. 1936 H. Corey Farewell, Mr. Gangster xiv. 174 But the word went out that the government heat was on. The FBI was known to be relentless in its pursuit. Ibid. ii. 14 During the heat on the bank robbers the field agents almost lost the habit of sleep. 1937 E. H. Sutherland Professional Thief 238 Heat, danger in general; an investigation; a policeman. 1938 J. Curtis They drive by Night xix. 211 The bleeding heat's on here for me. 1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep xiv. 110 Then he leaned back..and held the Colt on his knee. ‘Don't kid yourself I won't use this heat, if I have to.’ 1944 W. R. Burnett Nobody lives Forever xvii. 137 Jim..took out his gun..and..tossed it down a manhole-grating... ‘I was hoping that I'd never have to use that heater.’ 1957 Listener 24 Oct. 637/2 The moment seemed opportune to ‘turn the heat’ on Turkey. 1967 W. Murray Sweet Ride x. 168 He got busted last week and he don't take that too kindly. Guess he figured you was heat. 1969 New Yorker 19 July 20 Out the door comes this great big porcine member of the heat, all belts and bullets and pistols and keys. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 65 Heat, law-enforcement officer. 1972 Wodehouse Pearls, Girls, & Monty Bodkin xi. 178 And Dolly, drop the heater and leave that jewel case where it is, I don't want any unpleasantness. |
13. Sexual excitement in animals, especially in the female, during the breeding season; usually in
phr. at or in heat.
| 1768 G. Washington Writ. (1889) II. 243 Music was also in heat and served promiscuously by all the Dogs. 1794 S. Williams Vermont 102 The female is in heat in the winter, and bears her young in..March. 1836–9 Todd Cycl. Anat. II. 441/2 This state of excitement, generally named ‘the heat’, lasts for a longer or shorter period. |
14. Comb. a. attrib., as
heat-capacity,
heat-chart,
heat-cloud,
heat-flame,
heat-flow,
heat-focus,
heat-force,
heat-haze,
heat-insulation,
heat-insulator,
heat-lamp,
heat-mist,
heat-power,
heat-ray,
heat-retrogression,
heat-shock,
heat-supply,
heat-test,
heat-trap,
heat-value; (sense 4 b)
heat-pimple,
heat-rash. Also
heat-like adj. or
adv.;
heat-labile,
heat-sensitive,
heat-stable adjs.| 1875 Wond. Phys. World II. iv. 311 The *heat-action of the sun. |
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 279/2 The *heat-capacity of the water. |
| 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 42 Weather, wind and *heat charts. |
| 1895 Kipling 2nd Jungle Bk. 140 When the *heat-cloud sucks the tempest. |
| 1881 Watts Chem. VIII. ii. 1017 The axis of greatest *heat-conduction in uniaxial crystals is parallel to the direction of easiest cleavage. |
| Ibid., The *heat-conductivity of mercury. |
| 1871 tr. Schellen's Spectr. Anal. iii. 11 No soot is deposited..by the non-luminous *heat-flame. |
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 297/1 *Heat-flow due to Conduction. 1925 J. Joly Surface-Hist. Earth vi. 104 Steady heat-flow to the surface. 1955 Times 11 July 2/6 A research group investigating problems of heat flow in supersonic aircraft. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth iii. 67/1 The ‘heat flow’—the rate of escape of interior heat from the Earth's surface. |
| 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 12 Sept. 17 Wind⁓mills..with those unwieldy arms swaying around in the *heat-haze. 1899 Daily News 12 Jan. 6/2 The flat, endless continent, fading away in the heat-haze. 1901 ‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness (1902) 30 The ranks of little kopjes across the river slumbered in the heat-haze. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 43 Summer lanes Whose sound quivers like heat-haze endlessly. |
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 283/2 Expansion or compression under the condition of *heat-insulation, represented by curves called Adiabatics. |
| 1937 Discovery Feb. 35/1 Double walls of canvas enclosing an air space, which acted as a perfect *heat insulator. |
| 1946 Nature 27 July 121/1 One vital *heat-labile system in the earliest stages of the chain of activity preceding cell division. 1964 Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. II. 342 A hot-water extract (containing the substrate but not the heat-labile enzyme). |
| 1839 Bailey Festus xxiii. (1848) 292 As a spiritual quality..Hidden or open, *heatlike doth inhere In all existence. |
| 1901 H. W. Wilson With Flag to Pretoria I. vi. 91 Indistinct lines of Boer entrenchments, flickering through the *heat-mist. 1940 W. Empson Gathering Storm 48 The heat-mists that my vision hood Shudder precisely with the throng. |
| a 1665 in Walton Life Hooker H.'s Wks. 1888 I. 77 His face full of *heat-pimples. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 26 Aug. 13/2 The practical science of *heat-power-production. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 52, 10,000 kilowatts of heat-power. |
| 1887 Saintsbury Hist. Elizab. Lit. xii. (1890) 450 They were only harmless *heat-rashes, not malignant distempers. |
| 1866 Brande & Cox Dict. Sci., etc., *Heat Rays, applied to the red rays of the spectrum, and to other rays which fall outside the red end of the spectrum, and which are consequently invisible. 1887 Ward tr. Sachs' Phys. Plants xxxix. 696 The least refrangible heat-rays. |
| 1880 S. Haughton Phys. Geogr. vi. 312 Periods of *heat-retrogression (such as the glacial). |
| 1946 Nature 10 Aug. 194/1 Electronics have brought a contribution in the evaporation of solutions of *heat-sensitive materials such as penicillin. 1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. i. 5 This may cause the decomposition of one or more of the heat-sensitive components. |
| 1946 Nature 23 Nov. 763/1 The production in certain varieties of apples, of diploid pollen by *heat-shock treatment of the pollen mother cells. 1956 Ibid. 4 Feb. 227/2 In Drosophila, heat-shock at an appropriate stage results in the development of the cross-veinless phenotype. |
| 1946 Ibid. 23 Nov. 760/1 *Heat-stable enzyme. 1964 M. Hynes Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 8) xxiii. 339 R. prowazeki and R. mooseri..are differentiated by specific heat-labile major antigens, but share a common heat-stable antigen. |
| 1901 Kynoch Jrnl. Feb.–Mar. 57/1 The *Heat-Test of Nitro Explosives. |
| 1906 W. De Morgan Joseph Vance xviii, I think of the sole di marzo blazing on the roses in that Tuscan *heat-trap. |
| 1887 Chambers's Jrnl. 24 Sept. 623/1 The exact *heat-value of different kinds of liquid fuel. 1962 Economist 21 July 256/1 The main use of this gas should be to fuel power stations (at a ‘heat value’ parity price with coal or oil). |
b. objective and
obj. gen., as
heat-absorbing,
heat-absorption,
heat-economizer,
heat-evolution,
heat-forming,
heat-giver,
heat-giving,
heat-loss,
heat-making,
heat-measurer,
heat-producer,
heat-production,
heat-radiator (
= radiator b),
heat-regulator,
heat-regulating,
heat-resistant,
heat-resisting,
heat-storage,
heat-tempering adjs.| a 1618 Sylvester Posthumi Sonn. xiii. Wks. 1880 II. 323 The timely sweet heat-temp'ring showers. 1800 Herschel in Phil. Trans. XC. 310 If the coloured rays themselves are not of a heat-making nature. 1857 Chambers' Inform. People I. 739/1 The proportion of nutritive to the heat⁓forming principle in loaf-bread is 10 to 46. 1864 Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. IX. 343 The heat-absorbing capacity of aqueous vapor. 1867 Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. VI. 53 Heat Radiator [exhibited]. 1874 Dunglison Med. Dict. s.v. Aliment, Liebig divides them [aliments] into two classes..flesh formers and heat givers. 1877 Estes Half-hour Recreat. Pop. Sc. Ser. ii. 148 An accurate Heat-Measurer. 1879–81 Watts Dict. Chem. VIII. ii. 1018 The heat-conducting power of water. 1884 Jrnl. Nerv. & Mental Dis. XI. 141 He believed the central nervous system to have an immediate influence on heat-production. 1897 Daily News 8 Jan. 9/1 Infra-red waves or the invisible rays beyond the red end of the spectrum..being calorific or heat-producing. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 26 The paralysis of the heat-regulating centres. 1899 Callendar & Barnes in Rep. Brit. Assoc. 626 The external heat loss is more regular and certain. 1899 Daily News 21 July 4/4 A heat-resisting alloy. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 280/1 Heat-evolution is reckoned as positive, heat-absorption as negative. Ibid. XXVI. 508/1 The heat-loss can be reduced to a minimum. 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 283/2 Heat radiator, a device by which the cooling of the cylinder of a motor cycle or of the condenser of a car is promoted. 1904 Daily Chron. 29 Nov. 4/5 The heat-regulating mechanism of the body. 1905 Daily Chron. 14 July 4/4 Animal foods rich in fat..are heat-producers of the first order. 1927 Haldane & Huxley Animal Biol. iii. 87 If we put our man..into a calorimeter for a day and measure his heat-production. 1934 Archit. Rev. LXXV. 24/2 With the removal of weight from partitions and external walls came a reduction in thickness of material, with a consequent loss of sound and heat-resisting qualities. 1935 Archit. Rev. LXXVIII. 129 A double window was evolved with central heating between the two glass lines to minimize the heat loss occasioned by the lavish use of glass. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 263/1 All heat-storage cookers have insulated hot-plate covers. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Mar. Suppl. 11/3 The steel-reinforced, heat-resistant handle. 1961 Whitby & Hynes Med. Bact. (ed. 7) ii. 17 The ultimate test of a sterilizer is to show that live spores are killed. The spores must be carefully chosen—soil bacteria are often too heat-resistant for the purpose. 1962 Gloss. Terms Glass Industry (B.S.I.) 8 Heat-resisting glass, a glass able to withstand high thermal shock. 1964 L. Martin Clinical Endocrinol. (ed. 4) vii. 227 A varicocœle may also upset the heat-regulating mechanism and this is aggravated by a suspensory bandage. 1964 R. F. Ficchi Electr. Interference viii. 151 As ground current flows through the ground rod electrode, heat is generated that follows the well known I2R heat-loss pattern. |
c. instrumental, as
heat-clouded,
heat-concreted,
heat-cracked,
heat-crazed,
heat-hazed,
heat-killed,
heat-laden,
heat-misted,
heat-oppressed,
heat-set adjs. (so
heat-setting vbl. n. and
adj.);
heat-seal vb. (so
heat-sealed,
heat-sealing ppl. adjs.); also with meaning ‘against or from heat’, as
heat-insulated,
heat-isolated,
heat isolation,
heat-proof adjs.| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 470 Heat-concreted sand-heaps. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. i. 39 A false Creation Proceeding from the heat-oppressed Braine. 1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 179 The glimmer Of day thro' the heat-clouded window. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. liv. IV. 102 Heat-cracked clay. 1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping I. vi. 98 The deep heat-misted valley. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 288/1 If the system is heat-isolated. Ibid. The difficulty of realizing experimentally the condition of heat-isolation. 1906 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 6 Jan. 5/6 Get a 34-inch poker for your air-tight heater; they are nicely made and have the Alaska heat⁓proof handle. 1909 Daily Chron. 21 Jan. 4/7 Glasses treated in this manner become heat-proof, and may last for years. 1913 E. F. Benson Thorley Weir iii, Over all lay a grey heat-hazed sky. 1920 H. G. Wells Outline Hist. 21 This novel covering of feathers, this new heat-proof contrivance that life had chanced upon. 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 23 July 1/4 In Jersey City, three heat-crazed dogs attacked two young boys. 1946 Nature 27 July 121/1 In heat-killed grain there was no change in nucleolar size. 1952 E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper (ed. 2) 125/2 Heat-sealing papers include several types of paper coated with wax, varnish..which will adhere when pressed together with heat. 1957 Textile Terms & Defs. (ed. 3) 88 (s.v. Setting), In order to ensure that the crimp is not readily removed..the fibre may be set to impart permanency of crimp, and the operation is known as heat-setting. 1961 Lancet 9 Sept. 592/1 This is heat-sealed across its width. 1962 J. T. Marsh Self-Smoothing Fabrics ii. 8 During the early investigations into the finishing of nylon fabrics, it was found that a heat-setting process had a stabilising effect. 1963 A. J. Hall Textile Sci. iii. 130 The yarn becomes bulky, with each filament having heat-set small loops closely but irregularly spaced. Ibid. v. 221 The pin or clip chains over the greater part of their travel run through a heat-insulated chamber. 1964 Discovery Oct. 17/1 So impervious to water-vapour is the laminate, even along heat-sealed seams, that less than 0.012 grams per square metre can be leaked through samples every 24 hours. |
d. Special combs.:
heat-apoplexy,
-asphyxia = heat-stroke;
heat balance, the distribution of the flow of heat and other forms of energy into and out of a system in which there is no change in internal energy; also, an account or record of such a distribution,
esp. as a means of evaluating the efficiency of boilers, etc.;
heat barrier Aeronaut., the limitation on the speed of aircraft, etc., due to heating by air friction;
heat bump, a protuberance on the skin supposed to be due to heat;
heat-centre Physiol., any of several areas within the central nervous system which control the regulation of the body temperature;
heat coil Electr., a device fitted in a telephone exchange to protect the lines against small harmful currents;
heat cycle, a cycle of operations or states in a heat engine;
heat-death (see
quot. 1930
2);
heat-energy, that form of energy which is manifested in heat;
heat-engine, an engine in which the motive power is produced by heat, a thermodynamic engine;
heat equator = thermal equator (see
equator 3 b);
heat exchanger, a device used for the transference of heat from one medium to another; so
heat exchange,
heat exchanging;
heat-factor = entropy;
heat-fever, fever caused by exposure to heat;
heat filter, any device that selectively removes heat radiation but permits the passage of light,
heat flash (see
quot. 1958);
heat-lightning, summer lightning, occurring in hot weather;
heat-pipe, a closed, evacuated tube containing around its inner surface a wire mesh or other wick saturated with a working liquid, which through the capillary action of the wick and the higher vapour pressure of the liquid when heated makes possible the rapid conduction of heat away from a source;
heat-potential, term used by Rankine for the rate of isometric variation with temperature of the external work done by a body per unit mass during its isothermal expansion to any volume from a standard volume;
heat-pump, a heat-engine working in reverse (such as a refrigerator), in which work supplied to it is used to transfer heat from a colder to a hotter body;
heat-seeker, (
a) a heat-seeking missile; (
b) a device which detects infra-red radiation and the direction from which it comes and supplies the information to the control system of a heat-seeking missile, etc.;
heat-seeking ppl. a. (of a missile, etc.) using the infra-red radiation emitted by a target to home on it;
heat-set,
heat-setting ink (see
quots.); see also
heat-set adj.,
-setting vbl. n. and
adj. sense 14 c above;
heat-shield (see
quots.);
heat-sink (see
quot. 1965
2);
heat-spectrum, the spectrum of heat-rays, visible and invisible;
heat sponge, a type of heat sink;
heat-stroke, an affection of the nervous system, frequently fatal, caused by exposure to excessive heat;
heat tinting (see
quot. 1958);
heat tonality,
tone,
toning Physical Chem. [
tr. G.
wärmetönung], the sum of the heat produced in a chemical reaction and of the work done by the system, expressed in heat-units; the heat of reaction at constant volume (
disused);
heat transfer, the transfer of heat from one medium to another;
heat-unit, a unit quantity of heat; usually reckoned as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a unit weight (pound, gramme, etc.) of water one degree. See also
heat-drop, -spot, -wave.
| 1874 Dunglison Med. Dict., Coup de soleil,..an affection produced by the action of the sun on some region of the body..has been called heat or solar asphyxia, heatstroke, *heat apoplexy. 1891 Daily News 21 Sept. 6/1 Two men were seized with heat apoplexy. |
| 1898 B. Donkin Heat Efficiency of Steam Boilers xiv. 239/2 An approximate ‘*heat balance’, or statement of the distribution of the heating value of the coal among the several items of heat utilised and heat lost, may be included in the report of a test. 1954 Jrnl. Meteorol. XI. 8/1 The heat balance between the surface of the earth and the atmosphere..involves a flux of latent heat and of sensible heat, in addition to the radiational items. 1971 Nature 25 June 540/1 Ecologists are therefore interested in ways of inferring the temperature of a leaf from a knowledge of its heat balance. |
| 1953 H. Haber Man in Space 66 The designers of the Sky-rocket had to be on guard against not only the sonic barrier. With its high rate of speed their craft might run into an obstacle more serious than buffeting shock waves: the *heat barrier. 1953 Sci. Amer. Dec. 80/1 This is the heat barrier: the heating of a plane by the friction and piling up of air on aircraft surfaces at supersonic speeds. 1954 Times 5 Mar. 11/5 They might well find that [the ultimate limits of manned aircraft] were very high and that in the same way as the sound barrier had been overcome the problems of the heat barrier would be solved also. 1957 [see barrier n. 4 b]. 1970 J. Chaplin Wings & Space 146/1 There is no way to break through the heat barrier as there is with sound. |
| 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 57 Spots, which, it is hoped, are *heat-bumps. |
| 1884 Jrnl. Nerv. & Mental Dis. XI. 141 Tscheschichin was the first to announce the existence of an inhibitory *heat-centre in the nervous system. 1907 Practitioner June 771 The action of the heat-centres being sluggish. 1968 M. Monnier Functions Nerv. Syst. I. xv. 422 Successful protection from cold is possible through the central nervous co⁓ordination of several biophysical and chemical mechanisms. This is accomplished by the so-called heat center in the posterior hypothalamus. |
| 1900 K. B. Miller Amer. Telephone Pract. (ed. 3) xxiii. 275 A device to afford protection against currents such as these [sc. sneak currents]..is termed a *heat coil. 1971 Gloss. Electrotechnical Power Terms (B.S.I.) iii. ii. 13 Heat coil, a thermal device to protect apparatus from damage by external currents. |
| 1894 B. Donkin Text-bk. Gas, Oil, & Air Engines i. ii. 13 (heading) *Heat ‘cycles’ and classification of gas engines... Engineers have agreed to designate as a ‘cycle’ the successive operations taking place in a heat motor. 1930 Engineering 8 Aug. 187/3 The following..trends were..observable:..design and operation on more efficient heat cycles [etc.]. |
| 1930 J. H. Jeans Mysterious Universe i. 13 The second law of thermodynamics predicts that there can be but one end to the universe—a ‘*heat-death’ in which the total energy of the universe is uniformly distributed, and all the substance of the universe is at the same temperature. 1959 J. Blish Clash of Cymbals iii. 73 Any cyclical theory of the universe, any continuous and eternal systole/diastole from monobloc to heat-death and back again. 1973 Nature 11 May 65/1 What lies ahead is, in Clausius's later term, ‘a heat death’. |
| 1876 P. G. Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci. 138 We are led to speak of the availability of an amount of *heat-energy. 1893 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 8 Sept. 897/1 The practically unavoidable waste of heat energy. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 283/2 The whole of its intrinsic heat energy might theoretically be recovered in the form of external work. 1915 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 43/1 For all the heat-energy wasted..the consumer has had to pay. 1968 R. A. Lyttleton Mysteries Solar Syst. ii. 77 The release exceeds the gentle loss of heat-energy arising from the very slow processes of conduction within the Earth. |
| 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 283/2 *Heat Equator. 1911 M. I. Newbigin Mod. Geogr. iv. 87 Those regions of the earth which are directly beneath the vertical rays of the sun are heated most intensely... This belt of high temperature is called the heat equator. |
| 1902 G. E. Davis Handbk. Chem. Engin. II. ii. 132 (caption) Diagrammatic sketch of *heat-exchanging tanks. Ibid. 133 (heading) Heat exchangers... In no case would the cold water be heated to the temperature of the original hot water. 1908 Sci. Abstr. A. XI. 203 For snow the average total daily heat-exchange is 19 gm. cals. per cm.2 1915 Chem. Abstr. IX. 2332 (heading) Heat exchange apparatus wherein the one agent flows through one tube and the other agent flows through an annular chamber surrounding the said tube. 1924 R. Seligman Brit. Pat. 223,033, In some..descriptions of heat exchanging or sterilising apparatus..it has been proposed in order to obtain a tight jointing to groove and tongue the rims. Ibid., The plates would be working in parallel and the heat exchange effected by counter current. 1947 Science News IV. 33 A heat exchanger, then, is merely a means whereby the heat which would normally be wasted is used for combustion. 1952 Ibid. XXV. 87 This is done by means of the heat exchanger, which by various means effects the transfer of heat from the gases leaving the turbine to the air entering the combustion chamber. 1958 Engineering 28 Feb. 284/1 As an aid in securing high thermal efficiency from gas-turbine plants, use is frequently made of a heat exchanger, whereby the turbine exhaust heat is used to preheat the combustion gas. 1959 Listener 29 Oct. 732/3 Twelve heat exchangers for the new Bradwell (Essex) nuclear power station. 1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World v. 157 Where refractories are used to store and transfer heat, as in heat exchangers, the most important property required is high heat capacity. |
| 1859 Rankine Steam Eng. 310, ϕ is called the thermodynamic function of the substance for the kind of work in question; and in some papers, the *heat-factor. |
| 1549 Compl. Scot. xi. 24 The lord sal sende pestilens on the, the *heyt feueir, droutht. |
| 1898 W. E. Woodbury Encycl. Dict. Photogr. 367, I have taken a powerful projection lantern and set it as near to the microscope as the intervening *heat-filter will permit. 1962 Which? Mar. 68/2 The heat filter prevents much of the heat radiated from the lamp, from reaching the slide. |
| 1958 Chambers's Techn. Dict. Suppl. 984/1 *Heat flash, intense heat radiation from an elevated A or H bomb, detection of which, by heat-sensitive paint, gives the precise indication of ground-zero. 1961 ‘C. E. Maine’ Man who owned World x. 118 Central London was a wilderness of fused stone and leaning skeletal buildings, blackened and oxidised by nuclear heat flash. |
| 1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing ii. 17 You may just as well try to paint a flash of *heat-lightning in dog-days. 1849 Thoreau Week Concord Riv. 275 Friendship is..remembered like heat lightning in past summers. 1890 J. P. Ballard Among the Moths 122 Like the play of miniature heat-lightning. |
| 1964 G. M. Grover et al. in Jrnl. Applied Physics XXXV. 1990/1 We will refer to devices of this general class, for brevity, as ‘*heat pipes’. Ibid. 1991/1 A liquid sodium heat pipe for operation at about 1100°K was constructed. 1969 New Scientist 19 June 641/1 A heat pipe is one of the major components of the most powerful and efficient radioisotope-heated power generator yet built. Ibid., The advantage of the heat pipe is that the outside surface is at the same temperature along the whole of its length. |
| 1853 Rankine in Trans. R.S.E. XX. 569, I shall call this function a *heat-potential. |
| 1894 J. A. Ewing Steam-Engine iv. 118 By a refrigerating machine or *heat-pump is meant a machine which will carry heat from a cold to a hotter body. Ibid., Any heat-engine will serve as a heat-pump if it be forced to trace its indicator diagram backwards. 1948 E. F. Obert Thermodynamics xiv. 520 The reversed heat-engine cycle is called a refrigerator (and, also a heat pump) when the evaporator is used for cooling purposes..; the same cycle is called a heat pump (but not a refrigerator) when the condenser is used for heating purposes. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 55/2 The heat-pump system..is a conventional refrigeration system where the heat rejected by the refrigerant at the condenser is utilized for heating during the winter while the evaporator absorbs heat from..any..low-grade heat source. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VI. 369/1 Unless the price of electric energy is low..the heat pump cannot be justified solely as a heating device. However, if there is also need for comfort cooling..in the summer, the heat pump, to do both the cooling and heating, becomes attractive. |
| 1956 W. A. Heflin U.S. Air Force Dict. 248/1 *Heat seeker, a guided missile or the like incorporating a heat-seeking device for homing on heat-radiating machines or installations, such as an aircraft engine or blast furnace. Colloq. 1961 Flight LXXX. 716/2 Other features include a wide-angle heat-seeker behind the hemispherical glass nose, and extreme system simplicity. 1984 Pacific Defence Reporter Aug. 61 It is an all-aspect heat seeker that can perform 30 g maneuvers, and can be launched in a very wide envelope. 1986 Rotor & Wing Internat. Feb. 84 Texas Instruments is developing an enhanced signal processor using very high speed integrated circuits..for the missile's infrared heat-seeker. |
| 1956 *Heat-seeking [see heat-seeker above]. 1966 Sunday Times 25 Sept. 2/7 The MiG 17 does not carry heat-seeking missiles but is an excellent plane in low-level combat. 1985 Daily Tel. 22 Nov. 32/6 This equipment can be used to counter heat-seeking missiles such as the Soviet SA-7 Grail shoulder-fired weapon, now extensively deployed in Third World countries. |
| 1941 Inland Printer Nov. 42/1 The new presses..would enable us to print the body of the magazine entirely with the improved *heat-set inks. 1947 R. Burns Printing Inks v. 249 (heading) Heat-setting inks. The fresh prints are exposed to intense heat from gas flames or radiant surfaces for a very short period. 1963 Kenneison & Spilman Dict. Printing 91 Heat-set inks, printing inks manufactured in a special way to induce quicker drying... The vehicle of these inks is such that it vaporizes rapidly when the paper is heated after printing. |
| 1957 W. E. Clason Elsevier's Dict. Electronics 226 *Heat shield, a metallic surface surrounding a heat radiating element e.g. a hot cathode in order to reduce the radiation loss. 1962 J. Glenn et al. in Into Orbit 245 Heatshield, as used in Project Mercury missions..consists of a coating of ablative material on the rounded base of the capsule which evaporates during re-entry and carries off much of the heat in the form of a gas. 1968 Times 16 Dec. 7/3 Reentry speed was slightly faster than expected for Apollo 8 and the heat shield on the space⁓craft was charred to a depth of three-quarters of an inch. |
| 1956 Jrnl. Brit. Interplan. Soc. XV. 302 The determination of optimum sink temperature is beyond the scope of this paper, particularly since thorough analysis of the entire radiation *heat sink problem has been previously presented. 1957 W. E. Clason Elsevier's Dict. Electronics 226 Heat sink, used with power transistors to dissipate heat. 1959 Listener 28 May 930/1 By mounting the transistor on a relatively large piece of metal, which in turn is fixed to what is called a heat sink—something into which unwanted heat can be shot—the powers that transistors can handle..have been greatly increased. 1961 Aeroplane C. 372/2 For the Mach 2 aircraft the air supply from the main engines can be cooled by using the fuel as a heat sink. 1965 New Scientist 20 May 507/1 Satisfactory control of the rate and extent of cooling of the patient is obtained by regulating the temperature of the heat sink. 1965 W. H. Allen Dict. Technical Terms for Aerospace Use 132/2 Heat sink, (1) in thermodynamic theory, a means by which heat is stored, or is dissipated or transferred from the system under consideration; (2) a place toward which the heat moves in a system; (3) a material capable of absorbing heat; a device utilizing such a material and used as a thermal protection device on a spacecraft or reentry vehicle; (4) in nuclear propulsion, any thermodynamic device, such as a radiator or condenser, that is designed to absorb the excess heat energy of the working fluid. 1972 Sci. Amer. Mar. 118/2 All power transistors..must be mounted on heat sinks that have large cooling fins. |
| 1949 A. R. Weyl Guided Missiles 15 For short ranges, cooling of the heated walls may be avoided, either by the ‘*heat sponge’ principle (absorption and conduction of heat through walls of substantial thickness) [etc.]. 1958 A. G. Haley Rocketry iii. 57 The American Rocket Society..developed a ‘heat sponge’ motor, wherein blocks of aluminum absorbed large amounts of heat. |
| 1874 *Heat-stroke [see heat-apoplexy]. 1891 Lancet 11 July 82 Heat⁓stroke is not a frequent disease in the British Navy..the cases..generally arise in the Red Sea in the persons of cooks, stewards, bakers, and occasionally stokers. |
| 1910 C. H. Desch Metallogr. vii. 149 Stead has devised an electrical heater, by means of which the *heat-tinting can be carried on on the stage of the microscope. 1958 A. D. Merriman Dict. Metallogr. 121/2 Heat tinting, a method of distinguishing and of identifying the micro-constituents of a polished surface of a metallographic specimen. The method is based on the fact that temper colours or heat tints..appear when oxidation begins on a polished surface that is being heated. |
| 1895 C. S. Palmer tr. Nernst's Theoret. Chem. iii. iv. 435 Instead of using the ‘*heat-toning’ (heat tonality) to determine the ratio of distribution, one may employ..the changes in the volumes..of the solutions, on neutralisation. Ibid. iv. i. 491 The sum of the heat produced in the reaction, and of the external work performed,..we will call the ‘heat-toning’ (Wärmetönung) of the reaction... This ‘heat-toning’ represents the change of the total energy..of the system. 1902 H. C. Jones Elem. Physical Chem. 286 Since we have reactions which evolve heat.., and also reactions in which heat is absorbed.., the heat tone may be positive or negative. 1934 A. J. Mee Physical Chem. xv. 608 The term ‘heat tonality’ is sometimes used to denote the amount of heat associated with a chemical reaction. 1940 Glasstone Physical Chem. iii. 192 At one time the heat of reaction at constant volume was called the ‘heat tone’ (Wärmetönung) of the reaction; although this term is still used in German scientific literature, its significance is now equivalent to the general expression ‘heat of reaction’, the qualification of constant volume or pressure being added. |
| 1937 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 121 He had been very interested in discovering the relationship between *heat transfer and friction. Ibid., It was well known that a flat plate and a rough surface produced comparatively the same rate of heat transfer. 1958 Times Rev. Industry Apr. 9/1 The relative virtues of..heat-transfer media. 1966 W. A. Heflin Second Aerospace Gloss. 60/2 Heat transfer, the transfer of heat within a substance or structure by radiation, conduction, or convection. |
▸
heat-shock protein n. Biochem. any of a group of proteins whose synthesis is initiated or increased in cells exposed to high temperatures (or certain other stresses), most of which are thought to regulate the folding of other protein molecules; abbreviated
hsp.
| 1975 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72 1117/1 We find that temperature elevation causes the rapid disappearance of preexisting polysomes, followed by the buildup of new polysomes on which the *heat shock proteins are presumably synthesized. 1989 Nature 23 Feb. 688/1 Ubiquitin is one of the group of proteins called heat-shock proteins which are induced in cells in response to stresses such as thermal shock, heavy metals, oxidants and amino-acid analogues. 2002 New Scientist 18 May 25/1 A molecule that ‘blocks’ evolution has been discovered in plants. Called heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90), it eliminates kinks and abnormalities from the regulatory proteins that dictate the growth, development and shape of plants. |
▪ II. heat, v. (
hiːt)
Forms: 1
hǽtan, (
haten,
hatten), 2–5
hete(n, 3
heaten, (3rd
sing. pres. hat), 4–6
Sc. het, 5
heete,
hette, 6–7
heate, 6–
heat.
Pa. tense and
pple.: see below.
[Com. Teut.: OE. hǽtan = MDu. heeten, heten, heiten, Du. heten, LG. hêten, OHG. and MHG. heizan, Ger. heiȥen, ON. heita (Da. hede):—OTeut. *haitjan, f. *hait-oz hot. The pa. tense and pple. underwent in ME. various shortenings, some of which are still dialectal; the literary language now recognizes only heated.] A. Illustration of Forms of
pa. tense and
pa. pple. 1. pa. tense. α. 1
hǽtte,
hætte; β. 3–4
hatte; γ. 4
hette, 4–5
hett, 5–7 (
dial. –9)
het; δ. 6–7
heat; ε. 6–
heated.
| α c 1000 Shrine 16/15 Ðæs swanes wif hætte hire ofen. |
| β c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15729 Þe ffeuere agu ful sore hym hatte. |
| γ c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 145 That on me hette, that othir dede me colde. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 40 She het his bak. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3491 He hett water and wescht his fete. 1616 Marlowe & Chapman Musæus iii. Wks. (Rtldg.) 291/2 Her blushing het her chambers. |
| δ 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 203 He first of all heat the Goats dung. 1665 R. Hooke Microgr. 35 Others..I heat red hot..and then suffered them to cool. |
| ε 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 75 Thee fields..thee dogstar Sirius heated. |
2. pa. pple. α. 1
ᵹehǽt(ed,
-hǽtt; β. 3–4
yhat,
ihatte, 5–6
hatte; γ. 4
i-het, 4–6
hett,
-e, 5–6 (
dial. –9)
het; δ. 5
heet, 6–7
heat,
-e, 7
Sc. hete; ε. 6–
heated.
| β 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 61 The water..is i-hatte kyndeliche. c 1410 Love Bonavent. Mirr. vi (Gibbs MS.), In þat cold tyme þe chyld..hadde nede to be hatte [v.r. hette] in þat manere. 1528 Paynel Salerne's Regim. G ij b, Hit be..hatte vpon the coles. |
| γ 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 17 Ȝif he is i-froted and i-het. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. (E.E.T.S.) 71 Hit ys cold and nedith to be het. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 310 When ye have well het it in the fire. 1583 Babington Commandm. vii. (1590) 316 So shall the wrath of God..cause hell to bee hette 70 times 7 times hotter. |
| δ c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. viii. 330 The wil is heete and inflamyd into loue. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Dan. iii. 19 That they shulde heate the fornace at once seuen times more then it was wonte to be heate [1611 heat]. 1595 Shakes. John iv. i. 61 The Iron of it selfe, though heate red hot. 1662 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. Verse xviii. lv. 424/1 To make some sinful impression upon the Saint when he is heat. |
| ε c 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1567) 100 a, So sone as the Sunne had somewhat heated hym. |
B. Signification.
I. trans. 1. To communicate heat to; to make hot, to warm; to raise the temperature of.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 370 Wið toþ wræce..hæt scenc fulne wines. c 1000 Laws Ordeal in Schmid Gesetze 414 ᵹif hit þonne wæter sy, hæte man hit. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 109 Þe sunne..hat alle þing, þe on eorðe wecseð. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Thomas 588 [He] is þe fyre gert het þem wele. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 12 Hete it hote, but let it nowt boyle. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iv. 33 When I am cold, he heates me with beating. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. 161 If you bore with a Wimble..till you heat it soundly. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1708) 141 As fast as you pick your Hops, dry them, for their lying undried heats them, and changes their Colour. 1834 Coleridge Table-t. 5 July, Like emerging from a sick room heated by stoves, into an open lawn. |
† b. fig. To keep (a place) ‘warm’ by frequenting it.
Obs. rare.
| 1606 Holland Sueton. 71 Wee haunted I say and heat the dicing house. |
† c. (?) To run swiftly over, as in a race.
Obs.| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 96 You may ride's With one soft Kisse a thousand Furlongs, ere With Spur we heat an Acre. |
2. To produce the sensation of heat in, cause to feel hot or warm; to bring into a condition of bodily heat, to inflame. Also
absol.| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 180 Ammoniack..hath vertue to mollifie, to heat, discusse, and dissolue. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. iii. 80 You'l heat my blood no more. 1738 Warburton Div. Legat. ii. note Wks. 1811 II. 346 Men heated with wine. 1887 H. Aïdé Passages in Life Lady III. xii. 55 His blood was heated. |
3. fig. To rouse to intense emotion; to excite in mind or feeling; to inspire with ardour or eagerness; to inflame with rage or passion.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 404 Sturieð ou euer cwicliche ine gode werkes, & þet schal heaten ou. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxii. 7 Hetand & strenghtand me withinen. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2054 His harme, as a hote low, het hym with in. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. i. 60 He hath..cooled my friends, heated mine enemies. 1638 F. Junius Paint. of Ancients 180 Nothing heateth their forward spirits so much as the..applauses of all sorts of men. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. iii, This..discourse had heated them. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xviii. IV. 163 Officers who heated each other into fury by talking against the Dutch. |
II. intr. 4. To contract heat, become hot or warm, rise in temperature.
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 206 Calentes, haetendae. c 725 Corpus Gloss. 357 Calentes, hatende. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. viii. (1495) 557 Noo thynge ouercometh the adamas..also it heetyth neuer. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 238/2 Hetyn, or waxyn hoote, caleo. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 432 They set a Kettle of water over the fire to heat. 1707 Mortimer Husb. i. iv. (1708) 35 You must take care..that it do not lie thick, because it will heat. 1828 Webster s.v., Green hay heats in a mow, and green corn in a bin. 1884 S. P. Thompson Dynamo-Electr. Mach. (1888) 113 The first machines constructed heated too much. |
b. To have or get the sensation of heat, to grow hot; to become inflamed physically.
| a 1300 K. Horn 608 Þe sarazins he smatte Þat his blod hatte. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 81 Let my Liuer rather heate with wine. 1826 Scott Jrnl. (1890) I. 185 In walking I am like a spavined horse, and heat as I go on. |
5. fig. To become inflamed or excited in mind or feeling; to wax warm.
| a 1225 Juliana 21 His heorte feng to heaten. 1648 W. Ashhurst Reasons agst. Agreement Pref., I thought it..unsafe, to let so great dis-satisfactions lye privately heating together. 1859 Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 249 Heating into a sneerer. 1880 G. Meredith Trag. Com. (1881) 238 As I waned, she waned; as I heated, so did she. |
Hence
ˈheatable a., capable of being heated.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 2/32 Heatable, calefactabilis. |