white heat
Blazing emotional peak
White heat is the temperature at which heated metal glows white—hotter than red heat.
The phrase extends to any state of extreme intensity: The campaign reached white heat in its final weeks.
Someone at white heat is furiously angry or passionately engaged: She worked at white heat to finish the manuscript.
Furnace for shaping metal
- smeltingExtracting metal from ore
- moltenLiquefied by extreme heat
- crucibleVessel for extreme heat
- foundryMetal casting facility
blast furnace · tempering · welding · steelmaking · anvil · ingot · slag · refractory
Light from heated objects
- brillianceExceptional intelligence or luster
- radianceGlowing luminous quality
- luminosityIntrinsic brightness of source
- glowSteady, soft light
blaze · fervor · fever pitch · crescendo · peak · climax · zenith · maximum
Intense emotional warmth
- fervorIntense emotional intensity
- zealIntense driving devotion
- burning desireIntense emotional craving
- obsessionPersistent, intrusive preoccupation
consuming · all-consuming · devotion · intensity · fire · flame · rapture · ecstasy
Sudden important advance
- cutting-edgeAt innovation's forefront
- pioneeringFirst to explore territory
- creativityCapacity for original thought
- inventionNew device or method
ingenuity · visionary · progress · advancement · forefront · vanguard · trailblazing · revolutionary
Test through difficult experience
- refinementElegance of manner
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
- forgingShaping heated metal; faking documents
- temperingControlled heating and cooling
metamorphosis · catalyst · transmutation · alchemy · change · pressure · ordeal
forge
Furnace for shaping metal
foundry · blast furnace · tempering · welding · steelmaking · anvil · ingot · slag · refractory · cast iron
incandescence
Light from heated objects
- brillianceExceptional intelligence or luster
- radianceGlowing luminous quality
- luminosityIntrinsic brightness of source
glow · blaze · fervor · fever pitch · crescendo · peak · climax · zenith · maximum · extreme
ardor
Intense emotional warmth
- fervorIntense emotional intensity
- zealIntense driving devotion
- burning desireIntense emotional craving
obsession · consuming · all-consuming · devotion · intensity · fire · flame · rapture · ecstasy · fanaticism
breakthrough
Sudden important advance
- cutting-edgeAt innovation's forefront
- pioneeringFirst to explore territory
- creativityCapacity for original thought
invention · ingenuity · visionary · progress · advancement · forefront · vanguard · trailblazing · revolutionary · bold
trial by fire
Test through difficult experience
- refinementElegance of manner
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
- forgingShaping heated metal; faking documents
tempering · metamorphosis · catalyst · transmutation · alchemy · change · pressure · ordeal
rage
Intense, violent anger
fuming · indignation · outrage · frenzy · temper · ire · hostility · animosity · exasperation · boiling point
- thermitethermite, exothermic reaction, iron oxide, aluminum powder, molten iron
white heatabsolute zero
Theoretical minimum temperature
freezing cold · bitter cold · lukewarm · ice cold · frigid
white heatapathy
Absence of feeling
detachment · emotional numbness · dispassion · sangfroid · equanimity
white heatdead stop
Complete cessation of motion
standstill · stagnation · dormancy · inertia · paralysis
white, heat, whiter, whitest, whiten, whiteness, whitening, whitened, whites