What does "heat" mean?
Thermal energy.
Heat
/hiːt/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Thermal energy.
- Grammar: heat is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: heat up, hot up, hotness, warmth.
- Useful contrasts: chilled, cool drink, cool example.
- Usage evidence: When bears sleep or lie down, their postures depend on whether they want to get rid of heat or conserve it.
How to use "heat"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "heat" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "heat" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "heat" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "heat" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "heat" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "heat up" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "heat", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Thermal energy. uncountable
"Heat and temperature, although different, are intimately related. [...] For example, suppose you added equal amounts of heat to equal masses of iron and aluminum. How do you think their temperatures would change?[…]if the temperature of the iron increased by 100 C°, the corresponding temperature change in the aluminum would be only 48 C°."
- 2 Acronym of high explosive antitank, a munition using a high explosive shaped charge to breach armour. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 3 utility to warm a building wordnet
- 4 The condition or quality of being hot. uncountable
"Stay out of the heat of the sun!"
- 5 the trait of being intensely emotional wordnet
Show 23 more definitions
- 6 An attribute of a spice that causes a burning sensation in the mouth. uncountable
"The chili sauce gave the dish heat."
- 7 the presence of heat wordnet
- 8 A period of intensity, particularly of emotion. uncountable
"It's easy to make bad decisions in the heat of the moment."
- 9 the sensation caused by heat energy wordnet
- 10 An undesirable amount of attention. uncountable
"The heat from her family after her DUI arrest was unbearable."
- 11 a preliminary race in which the winner advances to a more important race wordnet
- 12 A fastball. countable
"The catcher called for the heat, high and tight."
- 13 a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature wordnet
- 14 A condition in which a mammal is aroused sexually or where it is especially fertile and therefore eager to mate. uncountable
"The male canines were attracted by the female in heat."
- 15 applies to nonhuman mammals: a state or period of heightened sexual arousal and activity wordnet
- 16 A condition in which a mammal is aroused sexually or where it is especially fertile and therefore eager to mate.; In omegaverse fiction, a cyclical period in which omegas experience an intense, sometimes irresistible biological urge to mate. countable, slang
"Some stories engage in dub-con scenarios where one or both partners are out of their minds with heat lust and lose all reasoning and inhibitions."
- 17 A condition in which a mammal is aroused sexually or where it is especially fertile and therefore eager to mate.; The arousal or horniness of a person, likened to that of a mammal. countable, endearing, slang, uncountable
- 18 A preliminary race, used to determine the participants in a final race. countable
"The runner had high hopes, but was out of contention after the first heat."
- 19 A stage in a competition, not necessarily a sporting one; a round. broadly, countable
"The first heat of the Rotary Young Chef Competition went underway on Monday 16th December…"
- 20 One cycle of bringing metal to maximum temperature and working it until it is too cool to work further. countable
"I can make a scroll like that in a single heat."
- 21 A hot spell. countable
"The children stayed indoors during this year's summer heat."
- 22 Heating system; a system that raises the temperature of a room or building. uncountable
"I'm freezing; could you turn on the heat?"
- 23 The output of a heating system. uncountable
"During the power outage we had no heat because the controls are electric. Older folks like more heat than the young."
- 24 A violent action unintermitted; a single effort. countable
"…many pauses are required for refreshment betwixt the heats…."
- 25 The police. slang, uncountable
"The heat! Scram!"
- 26 One or more firearms. slang, uncountable
"You carrying heat?" "You saw me unload the pistol," Hugo said. "It's in the waistband. And the kitchen knife. I need that for eating."
- 27 Stylish and valuable sneakers. slang, uncountable
"Whoa, that guy is rocking some serious heat."
- 28 A negative reaction from the audience, especially as a heel (or bad character), or in general. countable, slang, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To cause an increase in temperature of (an object or space); to cause to become hot (often with "up"). transitive
"I'll heat up the water."
- 2 simple past and past participle of heat dialectal, form-of, obsolete, participle, past
"Then was Nebuchad-nezzár ful of rage, and the forme of his viſage was changed againſt Shadrách, Meſhach, & Abednegó: therefore he charged and commanded that they ſhulde heate the fornace at once ſeuen ⁱtimes more then it was wonte to be heate."
- 3 make hot or hotter wordnet
- 4 To become hotter. intransitive
"There's a pot of soup heating on the stove."
- 5 gain heat or get hot wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 To excite or make hot by action or emotion; to make feverish. figuratively, transitive
"Ile leaue you my ſweete Ladie, for a while, pray walke ſoftly, doe not heate your bloud, what, I muſt haue care of you."
- 7 arouse or excite feelings and passions wordnet
- 8 To excite ardour in; to rouse to action; to excite to excess; to inflame, as the passions. figuratively, transitive
"A noble emulation heats your breaſt, / And your own fame now robs you of your reſt."
- 9 provide with heat wordnet
- 10 To arouse, to excite (sexually). slang, transitive
"The massage heated her up."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"When bears sleep or lie down, their postures depend on whether they want to get rid of heat or conserve it."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "heat"?
Common synonyms include: heat up, hot up, hotness, warmth, a transient madness, abandon.
How do you use "heat" in a sentence?
When bears sleep or lie down, their postures depend on whether they want to get rid of heat or conserve it.
How do you pronounce "heat"?
Pronounced /hiːt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hete, from Old English hǣtu, from Proto-West Germanic *haitī, from Proto-Germanic *haitį̄ (“heat”), from Proto-Indo-European *keHy- (“heat; hot”). Cognate with Scots hete (“heat”), Saterland Frisian Hatte (“heat”), Old High German heizī (“heat”). Related also to Dutch hitte (“heat”), German Hitze (“heat”), Swedish hetta (“heat”), Icelandic hiti (“heat”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English heten, from Old English hǣtan (“to heat; become hot”), from Proto-Germanic *haitijaną (“to heat, make hot”).
Etymology 3
Either an alternative spelling of het (“heated”), a continuation of late Middle English heet, het (an analogical simple past of heten (“to heat”) created on the basis of bet, the past tense of beten (“to beat”)), or a later analogical formation from the past forms of beten's modern reflex beat.