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heat ray

heat ray

5 8.0
A strong beam of energy that makes things hot from far away
  • noun
translation icon : rayo de calor
  • Perfect... if you're building a heat ray.
  • stop the heat ray

And by the way, what a crazy way to learn that America's military has a heat ray.

Examples

  • All we've seen is their heat ray.

  • "Lookout for that heat ray.

  • In the movie, the villain used a heat ray to destroy buildings from a distance.

  • The scientist demonstrated how the heat ray can quickly warm up a specific area.

  • During the experiment, the heat ray generated enough energy to ignite the paper.

Synonyms

ray
vsheat ray
327 1.0

A narrow line of light like a sunbeam

is thought of as a weaponlike focused device producing intense warming
beam
vsheat ray
  • Specialized
275 3.4

A line of light that shines from one place to another

is imagined as an engineered device used to cause intense warming
infrared radiation
vsheat ray
  • Specialized
4 4.2

A type of light we cannot see that warm things give off

is depicted as a targeted device used to produce strong warming
infrared ray
vsheat ray
  • Specialized
1 4.4

A type of light you cannot see that makes things warm

is presented as a focused weaponlike device that causes intense warming

Surface Forms

heat ray singular
heat rays plural

Morphology

heat + ray

The meaning 'a beam of energy that produces heat' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'heat' (thermal energy) + 'ray' (a narrow beam). This straightforward noun+noun compound follows common cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Heat ray creates a clear image: a thin ray like a line of light that carries very hot heat, able to burn or melt things from far away. So, it means 'a beam of energy that produces heat', often imagined as a weapon.