griddle
Americannoun
-
griddles
plural
-
a frying pan with a handle and a slightly raised edge, for cooking pancakes, bacon, etc., over direct heat.
-
any flat, heated surface, especially on the top of a stove, for cooking food.
a quick breakfast from the luncheonette's griddle.
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Upstate New York Older Use. a circular lid covering an opening on the cooking surface of a wood or coal-burning stove.
verb (used with object)
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griddles,
present (3rd person singular)
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griddled,
past participle, past
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griddling
present participle
noun
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Also called: girdle. a thick round iron plate with a half hoop handle over the top, for making scones, etc
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any flat heated surface, esp on the top of a stove, for cooking food
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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griddlesimple
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griddlessimple
-
have griddledperfect
-
has griddledperfect
-
am griddlingprogressive
-
are griddlingprogressive
-
is griddlingprogressive
-
have been griddlingperfect progressive
-
has been griddlingperfect progressive
Past
-
griddledsimple
-
had griddledperfect
-
was griddlingprogressive
-
were griddlingprogressive
-
had been griddlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of griddle
1175–1225; Middle English gridel, gredil < Old French gridil, gredil; see grill 1
Explanation
A griddle is a flat pan or stovetop that's used for cooking things quickly at high temperatures. Let's make pancakes on the griddle for breakfast. Yum! In a home kitchen, a griddle can be either a special metal pan. part of your stove, or a small appliance that you plug in; a restaurant griddle has a much larger surface. No matter what its size, the flat surface of a griddle gets hot fast, so you can easily whip up some scrambled eggs, hash browns, or bacon. Griddle originally meant "shallow frying pan," and it shares a root with grill.
Vocabulary lists containing griddle
A Toast to Bread
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The List of Things That Will Not Change
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Twenty-Four Seconds from Now
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A griddle achieves this effortlessly, because the juices have nowhere else to go.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Although the queen does not provide the instruction, the pancakes are then cooked on a hot griddle.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2025
The casual restaurant is a window-fronted galley kitchen where you can see the dough for pide and gozleme being rolled thin before being placed on the flat top griddle, where they’re cooked to order.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
By noon, she and her mom load their white van with soup-filled pots, orange Home Depot buckets and a cast-iron griddle to heat up tortillas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2023
Mrs. Hameed slaps the dough water-side down on a griddle, where it cooks like a pancake.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
That price tag reflects the Steelfire’s build quality, more like a premium skillet than the basic steel found on most griddles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Nearby, a long table was draped in a Mexican serape and topped with platters of pan dulce, while next to it, two women pushed around sizzling pieces of chicken and beef on gas griddles.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
There, among the many taco trucks and gas station stalls, rich, tempting spits and white-hot griddles, is Mitla Cafe.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 9, 2022
Electric stand-alone taiyaki griddles exist, but we went for a cast-iron mold that would work on a grill or gas stove.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2022
Big black machines worked all day and night pouring little pancakes onto moving round griddles.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
New England-style lobster rolls weren’t always so plentiful in Los Angeles, and Connie & Ted’s offered some of the best and most consistent, spooning lobster shipped fresh from Gloucester, Mass., onto fluffy, griddled rolls.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
The Order: The Tuna Bacon B.L.T. features smoked tuna, thinly sliced and griddled until crisp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
"It's an old traditional food that's been eaten for years and years", he said of the griddled bread.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2024
The menu features crispy, griddled corn cakes stuffed with everything from traditional cheese to shredded pork, chicken or sweet plantains.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 21, 2023
Never under such dark and griddled elms had the outlaws feasted upon their venison.
From The Works of Max Beerbohm by Sir Max Beerbohm
It was pre-dawn and I was griddling English muffins because I had misread my notes and forgotten there was another rise.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2025
I've also been known to appear a minute or two late to an interview after lunch because I was griddling a ham, cheddar and kimchi sandwich.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2022
Mayo works best when spread on the bread before griddling.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2021
Leah Anne Jaros of D.C. ups the ante on the exterior by sprinkling garlic powder over the butter- or mayo-coated sides before griddling, for a garlic-bread-inspired riff that is just so smart.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2021
In fact, grilling is out, and griddling is in.
From The Verge ● Jul. 20, 2021
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
