Philately. a group of small pyramidal marks, embossed or impressed in parallel rows on certain U.S. and Peruvian stamps of the late 19th century to prevent erasure of cancellation marks.
verb (used with object)
to broil on a gridiron or other apparatus over or before a fire.
to subject to severe and persistent cross-examination or questioning.
to torment with heat.
to mark with a series of parallel bars like those of a grill.
verb (used without object)
to undergo broiling.
Origin of grill
1
1660–70;1890–95for def 6; < Frenchgril gridiron ≪ Latincrātīculum,creātīculō, diminutive of crātis wickerwork, hurdle. See grille
a grating or openwork barrier, as for a gate, usually of metal and often of decorative design.
an opening, usually covered by grillwork, for admitting air to cool the engine of an automobile or the like; radiator grille.
any of various perforated screens, sheets, etc., used to cover something, as on a radio for protecting the amplifier or in cryptography for coding purposes.
a ticket window covered by a grating.
Court Tennis. a square-shaped winning opening on the hazard side of the court.Compare dedans(def 1), winning gallery.
Origin of grille
1655–65; < French,Old French < Late Latin*gratīcula,Latincrātīcula (compare Old Provençalgrazilha), diminutive of crātis
Related formsgrilled, adjectiveun·grilled, adjectiveCan be confusedgrillgrille
to cook (meat, fish, etc) by direct heat, as under a grill or over a hot fire, or (of meat, fish, etc) to be cooked in this wayUsual US and Canadian word: broil
(tr; usually passive)to torment with or as if with extreme heatthe travellers were grilled by the scorching sun
(tr)informalto subject to insistent or prolonged questioning
noun
a device with parallel bars of thin metal on which meat, fish, etc, may be cooked by a fire; gridiron
a device on a cooker that radiates heat downwards for grilling meat, fish, etc
"gridiron," 1680s, from French gril, from Old French greil, alteration of graille "grill, frating, railings, fencing," from Latin craticula "gridiron, small griddle," diminutive of cratis "wickerwork," perhaps from PIE *kert- "to turn, entwine." In many instances, Modern English grill is a shortened form of grille, such as "chrome front of an automobile."
v.
"to broil on a grill," 1660s, from grill (n.); figurative sense from 1842, and the specific (transitive) sense of "to subject to intense questioning" is first attested 1894. Related: Grilled; grilling.
grille
n.
"ornamental grating," 1660s, from French grille (fem.) "grating," from Old French greille "gridiron," from Latin craticula "gridiron" (see grill). "The distinction in French between grille and grill ... appears to date from about the 16th c." [OED].
