baking hot
1
3.4
- adjective
- UK
:
abrasador
- During the midday heat, it felt baking hot in the open field with no breeze to cool us down.
Examples
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As we sat on the beach, the sun was baking hot, causing us to seek shade under an umbrella.
-
The floor was baking hot.
Fiction book (1992) -
Even though Alpha Cen B is a bit cooler than the Sun, this still means the planet is baking hot, far too hot to sustain any kind of life as we know it, or even liquid water.
Blog text (13) -
The pavement was baking hot, making it unbearable to walk barefoot.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Having a high temperature and able to burn your skin
11
4.1
Too hot or intense in a way that causes danger and discomfort
9
7.5
Very hot in a way that feels uncomfortable
6
4.1
So warm it glows red
3
3.4
Very hot and making a hissing sound
3
5.3
Heated until it glows white
Feels very hot and stuffy, like the inside of an oven
Very hot and able to burn skin
Extremely hot, like the inside of an oven
Very hot, with high temperature or strong spice
Antonyms
How Hot
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'baking hot' is a simple intensifying combination where 'baking' (oven-heated) modifies 'hot' to indicate very high temperature; its meaning ('extremely hot, as if in an oven') is directly inferable from the constituents. This cooking-based metaphor is straightforward and common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand the expression.
Etymology
Baking hot comes from the image of a very hot oven. The word baking makes you picture food cooking in an oven, so calling the weather baking hot means it is 'extremely hot', as if you were inside an oven.