white hot temperature

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountabletechnical

   The temperature at which a heated object glows bright white, roughly above 1,300°C (2,400°F).

   Grammar: Often used with 'the' or 'a': at a white hot temperature; the metal reached white hot temperature.

   Patterns

   • at a white hot temperature
   • reach a white hot temperature
   • heat something to a white hot temperature

   The furnace must reach a white hot temperature before the steel becomes soft enough to shape.

   At a white hot temperature, the metal gives off a blinding white light.

2. 2adjectivenot comparabletechnical

   Heated so strongly that something shines with a bright white light.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: white-hot metal; the coals were white-hot.

   Patterns

   • white-hot metal
   • white-hot coals
   • become white-hot

   The blacksmith plunged the white-hot iron into cold water.

   The lava was white-hot as it flowed down the slope.

3. 3adjectivenot comparablefigurative

   Extremely intense, excited, or fast, as if burning with energy.

   Grammar: Figurative use; common in news and sports writing: a white-hot pace, a white-hot favorite.

   Patterns

   • white-hot pace
   • white-hot anger
   • white-hot favorite

   The runners set a white-hot pace in the final lap.

   She was white-hot with anger after the meeting.

Common combinations

white-hot metal

The white-hot metal glowed in the dark workshop.

white-hot heat

The star's surface is white-hot heat that nothing can survive.

white-hot temperature

The kiln operates at a white-hot temperature.

white-hot anger

He spoke with white-hot anger about the injustice.

Synonyms and how they differ

incandescent

More technical and formal; it means glowing with heat, but does not always imply the color white.

red-hot

Describes a lower temperature where the glow is red or orange, not white.

Opposites

Word family

white heat noun

The state or temperature of being white-hot.

white-hot adjective

The usual hyphenated adjective form.

Commonly confused: white hot temperature or red hot?

Practice

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