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hibachi

American  
[hi-bah-chee] / hɪˈbɑ tʃi /

noun

  1. a small Japanese-style charcoal brazier covered with a grill, usually used for outdoor cooking.


hibachi British  
/ hɪˈbɑːtʃɪ /

noun

  1. a portable brazier for heating and cooking food

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of hibachi

1860–65; < Japanese, equivalent to hi fire (earlier fi ( y ) < *poi ) +- bachi combining form of hachi pot, earlier fati < Middle Chinese, akin to Chinese monk's bowl; perhaps < Pali patta < Sanskrit pā́tra drinking vessel

Explanation

A hibachi is a small, portable charcoal grill. You might bring a hibachi to a beachside cookout, along with some skewered meat and vegetables to cook on it. Hibachi means "firepot" or "fire bowl" in Japanese, and in Japan it mainly refers to a small, charcoal-fired heater. For English speakers, a hibachi is used for cooking small amounts of food outdoors. The hibachis in Western restaurants are electric, but the kind a home cook uses is made from cast iron and has open grates over hot coals — and a Japanese speaker would call it a shichirin.

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Vocabulary lists containing hibachi

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:

He opened a successful chain of food trucks and hibachi grill restaurants.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 27, 2024

He left it Friday after he ran out of fuel for the hibachi grill he was using to heat the place, he said.

From Seattle Times Jan. 14, 2024

On “the beach”—an open stretch of snow between the parking lot and the lifts—skiers cavorted over pony kegs and hibachi grills.

From Slate Dec. 20, 2023

Think of hibachi: there's a performative energy necessary in order to make it a celebratory situation.

From Salon Jun. 17, 2023

We pulled a load of heavy cans and propane canisters and a welded hibachi barbecue in the trailer cart we’d found out back of the resort, along with Minerva’s share of the camp carry.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

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