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Glite Dictionary
microwave oven

microwave oven

14 1.3
An electric kitchen machine that quickly heats or cooks food
  • noun
  • /ˈmaɪkroʊweɪv ˈʌvən/
translation icon : microondas
  • You can quickly heat leftovers in a microwave oven in just a few minutes.
  • microwave oven technology

Microwaves, guess what, are also used in microwave ovens.

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Examples

  • To make popcorn, simply place the bag in the microwave oven and set the timer.

  • I'm saving for one of those new microwave ovens I've been reading about.

    3 Women (1977)

  • This is a microwave oven.

    The Tiger Hunter (2017)

  • You know, we have a microwave oven.

    Lost in America (1985)

  • And yesterday when I gave him lunch, he was right near the microwave oven.

    Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992)

  • The digital clock on the microwave oven was flashing "RESET."

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Microwave ovens have become common household appliances in developed countries and, to some extent, in developing countries.

    Academic text (2006)

  • She'd overheard them speaking Spanish while heating packaged burritos in a microwave oven.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Placing the contaminated sponges in a microwave oven for a few minutes will significantly inactivate potential pathogens.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Consumer worries about GMOs evaporate, becoming as anachronistic as fears of microwave ovens causing cancer.

    Academic text (2012)

Synonyms

microwave
vsmicrowave oven
133 1.0

An electric machine that heats or cooks food quickly like a small oven

focuses on the specific mechanism that agitates water molecules rather than speed

How Hot

electric range
  • US
1 3.0
toaster oven
10 2.7
microwave oven
14 1.3

Surface Forms

microwave oven singular
microwave ovens plural

Morphology

microwave + oven

The meaning 'an oven that uses microwaves to cook or heat food' is directly derivable from combining 'microwave' (radiation/appliance that heats food quickly) with 'oven' (an enclosed cooking appliance). This is a straightforward noun–noun compound and the concept is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Microwave oven comes from the words microwave (very small waves of energy) and oven (a machine that cooks). Those small waves make the water in food move and get hot, so the machine warms or cooks food very quickly. That's why microwave oven means 'heats food quickly'.