Dictionary Definition
kettle
Noun
1 a metal pot for stewing or boiling; usually has
a lid [syn: boiler]
2 the quantity a kettle will hold [syn: kettleful]
3 (geology) a hollow (typically filled by a lake)
that results from the melting of a mass of ice trapped in glacial
deposits [syn: kettle
hole]
4 a large hemispherical brass or copper
percussion instrument with a drumhead that can be tuned by
adjusting the tension on it [syn: kettledrum, tympanum, tympani, timpani]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
(Northumbrian) cetel, from West Germanic *katil, probably from catillus, diminutive of cantīnus ‘food-vessel’. Cognate with Dutch ketel, German Keßel, West Frisian tsjettel (English did not follow the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law in this occasion)Pronunciation
- , /ˈketəl/, /"ket(@)l/
Noun
- A vessel for boiling a liquid or cooking food, usually metal and equipped with a lid.
- The quantity held by a kettle.
- A vessel for boiling
water for tea; a teakettle.
- Stick the kettle on and we'll have a nice cup of tea.
- A pothole.
- The collective noun for a group of airborne hawks.
- In the context of "rail transport|slang": A steam locomotive
- A kettledrum.
- A kettle hole.
Usage notes
In British English, if not specified otherwise, the kettle usually refers to a vessel for boiling the water for tea.Derived terms
Translations
vessel for boiling a liquid or cooking food
- Albanian: kazan
- Catalan: caldera
- Croatian: kotao, kazan
- Finnish: kattila
- German: Kessel
- Hungarian: kazán
- Jèrriais: ticl'ye
- Old Frisian: sthitil
- Portuguese: chaleira, bule
- Serbian: čajnik
- Spanish: caldera
- West Frisian: tsjettel
quantity held by a kettle
- Finnish: kattilallinen
teakettle
- Czech: konvice
- Finnish: teepannu
- Kurdish:
- Old Frisian: sthitil
- Scottish Gaelic: coire
- Spanish: tetera
- West Frisian: tsjettel
pothole
See: pothole
group of airborne hawks
- Finnish: parvi
slang: steam locomotive
See: steam
locomotive
kettledrum
- Finnish: patarumpu
kettle hole
- Finnish: suppa
Extensive Definition
A kettle is a kitchenware piece. Depending on
culture and historical location, in the context of bathware the
word kettle can have a variety of meanings. In the United
Kingdom, Australia,
New
Zealand, Ireland, Canada and South
Africa, a kettle is a device used to quickly heat water for hot
drinks, such as tea or
coffee. It is normally
constructed out of durable plastic or steel (with a plastic handle)
and powered by mains
electricity. Once the water has reached boiling, the [kettle
automatically deactivates]http://www.strix.com to prevent the
water boiling away and damaging the heating
element. Sometimes stove-mounted metallic kettles are
used having a steam whistle that indicates when the water has
reached boiling point, and prior to the invention of the electric
kettle, this was the most common way of heating drinking
water.
Corded kettles generally use detachable
IEC C15 and C16 connections.
"Cordless" kettles became popular in the 1980s and 1990s consisting of a
plastic base that connects to the mains outlet and a separate
kettle. They both have electrical contacts that connect to supply
power to the kettle when it is placed on top of the base, and the
kettle can be easily detached to allow movement to the sink and
elsewhere.
Similar to the electric kettle is the electric
water boiler, a vacuum flask
with a heating element that boils water and maintains it at a
constant temperature. These are particularly popular in East
Asia.
In the United
States, a kettle usually refers to the stovetop metallic
version with a steam whistle.
Elsewhere in the world (and sometimes in the
United Kingdom) the word kettle can refer to a metal pot for
boiling or stewing, and a kettle is
probably the most ancient kind of metal cooking
utensil.
The word kettle originates from Latin catillus,
which in various contexts is translated as bowl, deep dish, or
funnel.
Specific types
A kettle, sometimes called teakettle, tea kettle or the pot, is a small kitchen appliance used for boiling water in preparation for making tea or other beverages requiring hot water. Kettles may be electric or for stovetop use.A kettle has a spout and (usually) a lid, though
there are also lidless kettles, filled with water through the
spout. Some kettles have a whistle attached to the spout, to signal
the moment when the water starts boiling, though electric kettles
switch themselves off when the water is boiling.
Others
- A cauldron is a large kettle hung over an open fire, usually on an arc-shaped hanger called a bail.
- A Fish kettle is a long slim metal cooking vessel with a tight fitting lid to enable cooking of whole large fish such as salmon.
- George A. Stephen, founder of Weber-Stephen Products Co., invented the kettle grill by cutting a metal buoy in half and fashioning a dome shaped grill with a rounded lid.
References
- Stevenson, Seth (Nov. 8, 2005). "A Watched Pot". Slate.
kettle in Arabic: غلاية
kettle in Belarusian (Tarashkevitsa):
Імбрык
kettle in Czech: Rychlovarná konvice
kettle in Welsh: Tegell
kettle in German: Pfeifkessel
kettle in Spanish: Caldera (cocina)
kettle in French: Bouilloire
kettle in Korean: 주전자
kettle in Hebrew: קומקום
kettle in Dutch: Fluitketel
kettle in Cree: ᑏᐅᔅᒋᐦᒄ
kettle in Japanese: やかん
kettle in Low German: Ketel
kettle in Polish: czajnik
kettle in Portuguese: Chaleira
kettle in Romanian: Ibric
kettle in Simple English: Kettle
kettle in Slovenian: Lonec
kettle in Vlaams: Moor
kettle in Yiddish:
טשייניק