heatwaven.
a. A wave of radiant heat; one of those vibrations of the ether that produce heating effects: see heat n. 2b.
b. A ‘wave’ or access of excessive heat in the atmosphere, esp. when regarded as passing from one place to another.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > hot weather > [noun] > spell or season of
heat1390
hot wave1876
heatwave1878
1878 J. Fiske in N. Amer. Rev. 126 35 The sum~total of motion is ever the same, but its distribution into heat-waves, light-waves, nerve-waves, &c., varies.
1893 R. S. Ball In High Heavens xii, (heading) The ‘Heat Wave’ of 1892.
1893 R. S. Ball In High Heavens xii The culmination of what had been somewhat absurdly designated ‘the great heat-wave’..The so-called heat-wave then seems to have travelled eastward.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1878