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microwave - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From micro- +‎ wave.

  • enPR: mī'krə-wāv", IPA(key): /ˈmaɪkɹəˌweɪv/
  • enPR: mī'krō-wāv", IPA(key): /ˈmaɪkɹəʊˌweɪv/

microwave (plural microwaves)

  1. An electromagnetic wave with wavelength between that of infrared light and radio waves.
    Synonym: SHF
    Hypernyms: radio wave, wave
    Hyponyms: K band, Ka band, Ku band, X band
    Holonym: radio band
    Coordinate terms: longwave, mediumwave, shortwave, UHF
    • 1964 August, “The NER's microwave radio-telephone begins work”, in Modern Railways, page 129:

      Microwaves do not follow the curvature of the earth, but travel in a straight line. They must therefore have unobstructed "line of sight" and the dish aerials have to be sited on towers or high buildings, on high ground, or a combination of all three.

  2. Ellipsis of microwave oven.

    Just put it in the microwave for 30 seconds and it's ready to eat.

electromagnetic wave

microwave (third-person singular simple present microwaves, present participle microwaving, simple past and past participle microwaved)

  1. (transitive) To cook (something) in a microwave oven.
    Synonyms: (colloquial) nuke, microcook, zap
    • 2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in Guardian‎[1]:

      A vengeful mother-of-three has been jailed for 168 days after being convicted of killing a neighbour's kitten by microwaving the 10-week-old pet.

  2. (transitive, slang) To provide minimal preparation for implementation, deeming full or extensive preparation as unnecessary.

cook in a microwave oven