What is "red heat"

n. 1 The condition of being red-hot 2 The temperature of something that is red-hot

n. the heat of fire [syn: fieriness]

The practice of using colours to determine the temperature of a piece of (usually) ferrous metal comes from blacksmithing. Long before thermometers were widely available it was necessary to know what state the metal was in for heat treating it and the only way to do this was to heat it up to a colour which was known to be best for the work.

Red Heat is a 1985 women in prison film starring Linda Blair and Sylvia Kristel.

Red Heat is a 1988 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi.

• Red Heat (video game), a video game based on that film

Red Heat may also refer to:

• Red heat, the practice of using colours to determine the temperature of metal
• Red Heat (1985 film), a film starring Linda Blair
• Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean, a 2010 history book by Alex von Tunzelmann