• synonyms

heat shield

See more synonyms for heat shield on Thesaurus.com
noun Aerospace.
  1. a coating or structure that surrounds part of the nose cone or other vulnerable surfaces of a spacecraft and, by heat absorption or ablation, protects them from excessive heating during reentry.
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Origin of heat shield

First recorded in 1955–60

Examples from the Web for heat shield

Contemporary Examples

British Dictionary definitions for heat shield

heat shield

  1. a coating or barrier for shielding from excessive heat, such as that experienced by a spacecraft on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere
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heat shield in Science

heat shield

  1. A barrier that prevents a substance from absorbing heat energy from an outside source by absorbing and dissipating, or simply reflecting, that heat. Heat shields are commonly used to protect parts of a device from heat generated by its energy source, as in isolating the cabin of a car from its motor. Many spacecraft dissipate heat generated by friction with the atmosphere upon reentry using heat shields that melt and vaporize, dissipating the energy back into the atmosphere.
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