heat gun

noun

plural heat guns

: a handheld device that generates very hot air which is emitted through a nozzle for application to a small surface area (as for removing paint or adhesive)

A big-job stripper made for removing … paint from interior and exterior woodwork, the heat gun looks and works like a … hair dryer. It blows a stream of hot air (500° to 700° F) onto the surface and softens the paint so that it can be picked up with a broad-bladed knife.

—Don Vining

To avoid that, I thread some … tubing over the wire and insulation, then hit it briefly with a heat gun. … The plastic tubing contracts to form a protective seal around the wire.

—Max LeBlanc

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above