microwave

From micro- + wave.

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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪkɹoʊˌweɪv/

microwave (plural microwaves)

2. 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

   Many radar systems use a combination of radio waves and microwaves.

   • 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.

4. Ellipsis of microwave oven.

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

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.

• microwavable, microwaveable
• microwave up