sauna

noun

1. 1

   A room or a house designed for heat sessions.

   The hotel has a sauna in the basement.

   Of course, it will never get -100 here like it does in Antarctica, but a 300-degree swing was still theoretically possible on a record-cold Minnesota morning–if we got the sauna hot enough.

   As health-conscious Americans have jumped headfirst into saunas, some Europeans have at times also found themselves a little baffled by their fellow steam lovers’ behavior, worried a millennia-old tradition is being warped by American wellness culture.

2. 2

   The act of using a sauna.

   John had a sauna after his swim.

   Joanne went for a sauna after her swim.

   One of my favorite saunas was just one go and thirteen minutes long, including clean up time.

3. 3

   In some countries, a business with bath-like facilities that is actually a brothel or a place for (non-commercial) sexual encounters; a bathhouse or massage parlour.

   McPhail ran Maitland's brothels—knocking-shops in Maryhill, Riddrie, Dennistoun, and the more upscale saunas in the West End and city centre.

4. 4

   figurativeA very hot place or room.

verb

1. 1

   To use a sauna.

   “I find it disgusting,” she said. “It would be a total no-no to go to a sauna in Austria with your bathing suit, and an insult to wear workout clothes.” She now saunas at home.

Forms

plural

saunas

past tense

saunaed

past participle

saunaed

present participle

saunaing

third person singular

saunas