Heatwave

//ˈhitˌweɪv// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of heat wave (“period of exceptionally hot weather”) alt-of, alternative

    "Various parts of the world have been experiencing heatwaves and on Thursday the EU’s climate monitoring service said the world had experienced its hottest June on record last month. […] In parts of China, an enduring heatwave has continued, with temperatures reaching above 35C."

  2. 2
    A heat haze.

    "On a hot summer's day, one can literally see heatwaves shimmering off the surfaces of inanimate objects."

Synonyms

All synonyms
dog daysfair weathersummer

Example

More examples

"Bitterly cold air is gripping America, while on the other side of the globe, Australia is sizzling as a record heatwave takes hold."

Etymology

From heat + wave.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.