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radiator

American  
[rey-dee-ey-ter] / ˈreɪ diˌeɪ tər /

noun

  1. a person or thing that radiates.

  2. any of various heating devices, as a series or coil of pipes through which steam or hot water passes.

  3. a device constructed from thin-walled tubes and metal fins, used for cooling circulating water, as in an automobile engine.

  4. Radio. a transmitting antenna.

radiator British  
/ ˈreɪdɪˌeɪtə /

noun

  1. a device for heating a room, building, etc, consisting of a series of pipes through which hot water or steam passes

  2. a device for cooling an internal-combustion engine, consisting of thin-walled tubes through which water passes. Heat is transferred from the water through the walls of the tubes to the airstream, which is created either by the motion of the vehicle or by a fan

  3. an electric fire

  4. electronics the part of an aerial or transmission line that radiates electromagnetic waves

  5. an electric space heater

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
radiator Scientific  
/ rā′dē-ā′tər /

  1. A body that emits radiation. Radiators are commonly designed to transfer heat energy from one place to another, as in an automobile, in which the radiator cools the engine by transferring heat energy from the engine to the air, or in buildings, where radiators transfer heat energy from a furnace to the air and objects in the surrounding room.

Etymology

Origin of radiator

First recorded in 1830–40; radiate + -or 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The stairwell next door "bought new radiators, repaired the utilities together," she said, enviously.

From Barron's

A "closed-loop" water cooling system, which works a bit like a car radiator and does not require regular refills, prevents them from malfunctioning.

From Barron's

‘I’m not made of money’: My heating engineer didn’t fix my radiators on his first visit.

From MarketWatch

It’s already quite hot inside my shoebox apartment as the radiators clank away, drowning out my upstairs neighbor’s heavy footsteps with their cacophonous symphony.

From Salon

My heating engineer came to fix my radiators because they kept shutting off and the hot water was intermittent.

From MarketWatch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.