hothouse effectn.
/ˈhɒthaʊs ᵻˌfɛkt/, U.S. /ˈhɑtˌ(h)aʊs əˌfɛk(t)/, /ˈhɑtˌ(h)aʊs iˌfɛk(t)/ 1.
a. A heating or forcing effect like that in a hothouse; = greenhouse effect n. 2.
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1851 A. B. Richards Ess. & Opinions II. 226 One of the hot-house effects of the Great Conservatory seems already to be the fungus-like fertility induced in the human brain.
1855 N.Y. Jrnl. Med. 15 374 A hot-house effect seems to be produced on vegetation in some localities, resulting from topographical causes and an extraordinary richness of soil.
1894 Rev. of Rev. Feb. 168/1 The warm southern sun..summons to life an almost tropical vegetation... It is almost a hothouse effect.
1903 Official Proc. Western Railway Club 15 396 Exposing the workmen to the hot house effects of the sun beating directly through overhead sky-lights.
1991 R. Goodman French Dirt ii. 156 The plastic provided a sort of hothouse effect, and because of the pent-up humidity, the seeds never required another watering.
b. Atmospheric Physics and Environmental Science. = greenhouse effect n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > [noun] > greenhouse effect
greenhouse effect1907
hothouse effect1911
1889 S. P. Langley Temperature of Moon App. 2. 206 Fourier recognizes the action of successive protecting atmospheric envelopes in maintaining a high temperature at the earth's surface... Here we apparently trace to its source the ‘hot-house’ theory, which..has come down unchanged to our own time.]
1911 C. G. Abbot Sun vii. 323 Under the perfectly cloudy condition..there would be a ‘blanket’ or ‘hothouse’ effect [in the Permian period] similar to that which now exists, and which now raises the surface temperature of the earth nearly 30° C.
1970 New Scientist 3 Sept. 451/1 The complacent tone in which the Chief Inspector dismisses as ‘popular fantasies’ the postulated ‘hothouse effect’ of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.
1979 BBC Summary World Broadcasts (Nexis) 29 Jan. SU/6028/C/3 A considerable proportion of the solar radiation reaches the surface of Venus—quite sufficient to ensure what is called the ‘hothouse effect’.
2004 G. W. Oetjen & P. Haseley Freeze-drying (ed. 2) ii. 191 Because of the problems caused by ozone depletion and the hothouse effect..refrigerants which contribute to ozone depletion may no longer be produced.
2. figurative and in extended use; esp. an effect of making something grow rapidly or become extreme.
ΚΠ
1877 Pop. Sci. Monthly July 313 There is no doubt in the world that an inflated currency does have a hot-house effect upon trade and production.
1919 H. Footner Substitute Millionaire xii. 117 She was one who went in frankly for hothouse effects. Her hair was the color of cherrywood stain, her cheeks tinted to match.
1988 Maclean's (Nexis) 4 July 9 Land prices are catastrophically high because of a hothouse effect created by onerous capital-gains taxes.
2000 A. Martin in T. Iversen et al. Unions, Employers, & Central Banks viii. 245 Much of the increased demand for financial assets was confined to Sweden, creating a ‘hothouse’ effect that pushed domestic asset prices up.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1851