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thermal

thermal

22 6.1
A rising current of warm air that birds and gliders use to go up
  • noun
  • /ˈθɜrməl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : térmica
  • The bird expertly caught the thermal, allowing it to climb gracefully above the landscape.
  • thermal wind
  • thermal power
  • thermal system

And so we went to Brazil and I was going to learn how to mountain fly or fly thermals, thermal fly.

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Examples

  • Two eagles whirled in circles overhead, dipping and turning as they rode the thermals.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • As the glider soared through the sky, it was effortlessly lifted by a thermal that carried it higher.

  • Pick up a thermal coming over the hill.

  • I'm picking something up on the thermal.

  • The question is whether the thermals will hold up.

  • Only occasionally do they flap their wings to take off, change direction, or find a thermal.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The condors quickly found a warm thermal rising off the cliffs and circled up into the bright blue sky.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Gliders can actually gain altitude by riding "thermals," pockets of warm air rising from the earth's surface.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • During the flight, the pilot skillfully maneuvered the glider to take advantage of the rising thermals.

Synonyms

hot air
vsthermal
13 2.1

Warm air that rises when it is heated

is a specific rising current that provides lift for gliders and birds
updraft
vsthermal
  • Specialized
7 7.2

A strong upward movement of air that carries birds or gliders higher

is a rising current used for lift by birds or gliders

Compounds

thermal conductivity
  • Specialized
1 4.8

How easily heat moves through a material

British thermal unit
  • Specialized
1 6.8

A unit of heat equal to the heat needed to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit

thermal pollution
  • Specialized
1 5.8

A harmful rise in river or lake water temperature caused by hot water from factories

thermal reactor
  • Specialized
1 6.8

A nuclear power plant that makes electricity by splitting atoms with slow neutrons

thermal equilibrium
  • Specialized
1 6.4

A state where all parts have the same temperature and no heat flows between them

thermal insulation
  • Specialized
1 3.8

Material that reduces heat moving between inside and outside

thermal resistance
  • Specialized
1 5.8

How well a material stops heat moving through it

A natural hot pool of water that comes from the ground

thermal printer
  • Specialized
3.6

A machine that prints by using heat on special paper

thermal barrier
  • Specialized
8.1

A limit to how fast planes or spacecraft can go because the air makes them very hot at high speed

thermal emission
  • Specialized
6.8

The release of electrons from a material because it is very hot

thermal resistor
  • Specialized
4.8

An electronic part that changes how much it reduces electric current when it gets hot or cold

solar thermal system
  • Specialized
3.7

A system that uses sunlight to make heat for hot water or heating buildings

Surface Forms

thermal singular
thermals plural

Etymology

The word __thermal__ comes from the Greek root therm- meaning 'heat', and a thermal** (noun) is a rising pocket of warm air that is 'hot' enough to lift birds and gliders so they can go higher.