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

/ kĕt′l /

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

In addition to the idiom beginning with kettle , also see pot calling the kettle black .

Example Sentences

She trusts the open kettle or her version of it, which she refers to as the “heat sterilization fill” approach.

From Washington Post

Imagine if you could power your kettle using the energy generated from the vegetable cuttings quietly breaking down in your kitchen’s compost bin.

From Singularity Hub 

Copper pendants seem to have been made from kettles and pots.

From Popular-Science

Kelley-Chung says that’s when an officer carrying zip ties said he had to arrest someone, before looking directly at him, grabbing him, and pulling him out of the kettle.

From MIT Technology Review

I used an electric kettle, but a stove-heated kettle or pot will work, too.

From Science News For Students

The kettle was adamantly calling the pot black as Netanyahu accused Iran of doing all sorts of shady things with nuclear power.

From The Daily Beast

The Nazi-hunting era that began with the thunder of a kettle drum at the Nuremberg trials in 1945 ended with a whimper in 2011.

From The Daily Beast

Electric kettle  Like many Americans who have spent time living in the UK, while I was there I fell in love with electric kettles.

From The Daily Beast

I could hear Eliza downstairs, filling up another kettle for tea.

From The Daily Beast

She got an electric kettle and plugged it in, transferring a teapot of hot water into the tub.

From The Daily Beast

Roulard had played the trumpet in the regimental band in which Aristide had played the kettle drum.

From Project Gutenberg

One evening at tea, a copper kettle, with hot water, stood on the hob.

From Project Gutenberg

Mother would want some tea by and by, if she worked late into the evening, and Jess drew the kettle forward.

From Project Gutenberg

Jess made a cushion for it out of grass and laid it on top of the kettle full of treasures.

From Project Gutenberg

The big kettle, empty and clean, was hung over the low fire and butter was dropped in.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• boiler
• cauldron
• pot
• steamer