warmer

Pluralwarmers

1. 1
   adjective

   Comparative of warm.

   The southern coast stays warmer than the inland plains throughout the year.

   Wool socks keep your feet warmer than cotton ones.

   Note

   The adjective shares its spelling with the noun for a thing that gives heat, and only the noun takes a plural, warmers. As a comparative, it follows every sense of warm, not just temperature: a warmer welcome, a warmer shade of red, a warmer scent. In the informal guessing game, "you're getting warmer" means you are getting closer to the answer.

   Keep guessing, you're getting warmer.

   She gave them a much warmer welcome the second time.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   An object or dish that gives a small amount of heat to warm something else, such as a hot water bottle or a bowl of soup.

   He set a warmer beneath the dish to keep the gravy hot through dinner.

   On winter mornings she reaches for a warmer to take the chill off her hands.

   Similarheater

   Note

   In the kitchen, the job is to hold heat rather than to cook. Raymond Sokolov's Why We Eat What We Eat (1993) has tortillas "kept warm and moist in an electric warmer." The word often appears with keep warm, and with a word for the power source or for what is being kept warm.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A piece of clothing that provides warmth by trapping the body's own heat.

   Dancers slip a warmer over each calf to stay loose between rehearsals.

   She knitted a thick warmer to wrap around her neck on the coldest days.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A short introductory activity, such as one at the start of a lesson, used to spark interest in a topic.

   She opened the workshop with a five-minute warmer to get people talking.

   Trainers often use a simple warmer to break the ice before tackling difficult material.

   Similaricebreaker

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