What does microwaved mean?
“Microwaved” is the past tense and past participle of “microwave,” most commonly meaning that food or another item was heated in a microwave oven. It is widely used in everyday household, restaurant, and workplace contexts, as in “microwaved rice” or “microwave-safe container.” The word also has a less common informal meaning: to dismiss or terminate someone, often suggesting that the process was brief or handled in a perfunctory way. This second sense is usually humorous or blunt and is more likely to appear among colleagues than in formal communication. Although “microwave” began as a technical term for electromagnetic waves of very short wavelength, the verb has developed a familiar association with rapid heating and consequently acquired a broader slang meaning involving swift, minimal treatment.
verbTo heat food or another item in a microwave oven. Informally, it can also mean to dismiss or terminate someone, especially through a brief or cursory process.
- To heat something in a microwave oven.
- Informally, to dismiss or terminate someone, especially through a brief or cursory process.
"She microwaved the soup while the rest of dinner was being prepared."
"The restaurant microwaved the chicken before packing it for the customer."
"After a short meeting with management, he was microwaved and told to leave immediately."
The word carries two radically different ideas: a quick way to heat food and, in workplace slang, a quick way to remove someone from a job.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does microwaved come from?
The noun “microwave” was coined in the 1930s for electromagnetic waves with very short wavelengths, combining the Greek-derived prefix meaning “small” with the English word “wave.” The verb “microwave,” meaning to cook with these waves, developed later from the name of the cooking method. Its informal employment sense, meaning to dismiss someone quickly, is a figurative extension of the idea of brief, rapid treatment.
Related word forms
How microwaved is actually used
The heating sense is standard in both British and American English. The dismissal sense is informal and mainly used in workplace conversation; it can sound humorous or deliberately casual, and it may be inappropriate in formal announcements.