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Glite Dictionary
central heating

central heating

5 2.5
A system that warms a building by making hot water or air in one place and sending it to rooms
  • noun
  • /ˈsɛntrəl ˈhiːtɪŋ/
translation icon : calefacción central
  • The first thing we did was install central heating.
  • central heating system

I was in at one point going, I was breaking into like these show houses, nicking all the central heating out and flogging it.

Examples

  • Actually, it was fantastic because they're well designed, had nice central heating and so on, and albeit rather cramped.

  • In particular, he was bothered by the inefficiency of the base's central heating plant.

    Blog text (7)

  • Except for the lack of central heating.

    W.E. (2011)

  • The climate change summit debates whether or not to turn on central heating for 6 hours.

    Blog text (14)

  • Bertie's got that new-fangled central heating in.

    Lassiter (1984)

  • Back then (1958), there was no central heating or hot water, so it got pretty chilly in the winter.

    Blog text (22)

  • The building was a villa built some short time after the conquest, complete with central heating (a well-designed hypocaust).

    Blog text (19)

  • In 1971, 69 percent of dwellings lacked central heating, as compared with 43 percent in 1981 and 16 percent in 1991.

    Academic text (1997)

  • For example, Sofia was able to obtain loans from international financial institutions for rehabilitating the city's central heating system and enhancing the energy efficiency of municipal buildings.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The old building was finally equipped with central heating, making the winter much more comfortable.

Synonyms

heating system
vscentral heating
8 2.8

A system that warms a building by moving hot air or water

is more specific, warms from one source and sends warmth through pipes vents or radiators

How Centralized

central heating
5 2.5
space heater
  • US
11 3.1

Surface Forms

central heating singular
central heatings plural

Morphology

central + heating

The meaning 'a building-wide heating system from a central source' is directly derivable from combining 'central' (located at or serving as a center / centralized) with 'heating' (equipment or system that produces heat). This is a common, compositional noun phrase cross-linguistically (e.g. French chauffage central, Spanish calefacción central) and follows standard English compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it.

Etymology

Central heating comes from the simple idea of making heat in one central place and sending it to every room through pipes or vents, so the whole building becomes 'warm'.