hot plate
Americannoun
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a portable appliance for cooking, formerly heated by a gas burner placed underneath it, now heated chiefly by an electrical unit in the appliance.
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a hot meal, usually consisting of meat, potato, and a vegetable, served all on one plate and usually at a set price at a restaurant or lunch counter.
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a plate that can retain heat in order to keep food hot.
Etymology
Origin of hot plate
First recorded in 1835–45
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.
They never owned a car and for a time had to cook meals on a hot plate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Or the yellow Formica kitchen, with its Pyrex hot plate, wall-mounted radio, original Eames barstools and drop-leaf dining table still intact — all charming throwbacks to a simpler time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2025
It’s faster and prettier than a regular hot plate.
From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2024
Chuleton is a Basque ribeye that is seared and served already cut, with a hot plate that allows guests to cook it to the temperature of their choosing.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 19, 2024
If you have only a room, with a hot plate at best, you can’t save by cooking up huge lentil stews that can be frozen for the week ahead.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
