glow plug

noun

: a heating element in a diesel-engine cylinder to preheat the air and facilitate starting

also : a similar element for ignition in other internal combustion engines

Examples of glow plug in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The engine starts quickly (after a 10-second pause spent waiting for the glow plugs to warm the prechambers) but clatters like a big rig. —Frank Markus, Car and Driver, 9 Sep. 2023

Thanks to active thermal management and ceramic glow plugs, an engine block heater is not needed until minus-22 degrees F, Chevy said. —Jeff Yip, Houston Chronicle, 2 July 2019

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1941, in the meaning defined above