hot spell
1
3.5
- noun
- /hɑt spɛl/
:
ola de calor
- During a recent hot spell, many locals sought relief by visiting nearby swimming pools.
Examples
-
During a hot spell in September, I wore loose-fitting tank tops with no bra beneath.
Fiction book (1997) -
Record-breaking temperatures were reported during the last hot spell, affecting the entire region for several days.
-
This is one of the hottest spells we have had in years.
-
As it is, we're having to try new varieties of some crops to handle the hot spells.
Blog text (20) -
Within a decade, his data suggest, these hot spells could reach 16.7 percent of the hemisphere's summer weather.
Blog text (8) -
That's roughly a new high-temperature record set every two weeks, from January through August, but the actual pace, of course, may well have been different, and likely so, since heat waves come in waves, and it is likely that records get broken in consecutive days when those hot spells happen.
Blog text (1) -
Over the recent hot spell, I stopped working on the upper floors of the dilapidated brick townhouse I bought in Pittsburgh and did projects in the always cool basement instead.
Blog text (12) -
Where have all the pure youths gone, and why does the babble of fountains no longer put us in a lofty frame of mind but merely amuse us during a hot spell?
Fiction book (1991) -
Forecasters predict a hot spell this weekend, bringing temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Synonyms
30
3.2
A period of very hot weather that lasts several days
3
3.0
A long period of very hot weather that can harm people and crops
A very hot time of the year when people stay inside to avoid the heat
Antonyms
How Hot
3
3.0
1
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a period of unusually hot weather' is directly derivable from combining 'hot' (having elevated temperature) with 'spell' (a short period or stint). This adj+noun compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows normal English phrase formation, so an average B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase hot spell uses spell in the old sense 'a short time', so picture a short push of hot weather lasting a few days. So, hot spell means 'a short time of very hot weather'.