kettle

[ket-l]

noun

1. a metal container in which to boil liquids, cook foods, etc.; pot.

2. a teakettle.

3. a kettledrum.

4. Geology.,  kettle hole.

5. an enclosed area to which demonstrators are herded for containment by police.

   Journalists were the first to be allowed to leave the kettle.

verb (used with object)

1. to surround and contain (demonstrators) in an enclosed area.

   Most demonstrators were too distracted to notice they were being kettled.

kettle

/ ˈkɛtəl /

noun

1. a metal or plastic container with a handle and spout for boiling water

2. any of various metal containers for heating liquids, cooking fish, etc

3. a large metal vessel designed to withstand high temperatures, used in various industrial processes such as refining and brewing

4. informal,  an enclosed space formed by a police cordon in order to contain people involved in a public demonstration

5. short for kettle hole

verb

1. informal,  (tr) (of a police force) to contain (people involved in a public demonstration) in an enclosed space

kettle

1. A steep, bowl-shaped hollow in ground once covered by a glacier. Kettles are believed to form when a block of ice left by a glacier becomes covered by sediments and later melts, leaving a hollow. They are usually tens of meters deep and up to tens of kilometers in diameter and often contain surface water.

Word History and Origins

Origin of kettle¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English ketel, from Old Norse ketill, ultimately derived from Latin catillus, diminutive of catīnus “pot”; replacing Old English cetel, cietel, ultimately from Latin as above; compare German Kessel

Word History and Origins

Origin of kettle¹

C13: from Old Norse ketill; related to Old English cietel kettle, Old High German kezzil; all ultimately from Latin catillus a little pot, from catīnus pot

Idioms and Phrases

• pot calling the kettle black

Example Sentences

Don't overfill your kettle: only boil what you need.

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Instead she brought her a cozy blanket and went to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

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The soup course was served, and then a fish course, and finally the main dish was brought out in great kettles, piping hot and fragrant with paprika.

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Alexander had even filled a small, portable tin kettle with water from a nearby stream so Penelope could put it on to boil for tea.

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Therefore food that could be made using a kettle or a microwave were especially useful.

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Related Words

• boiler 
• cauldron 
• pot 
• steamer