kettle
a metal container in which to boil liquids, cook foods, etc.; pot.
a teakettle.
a kettledrum.
Geology. kettle hole.
an enclosed area to which demonstrators are herded for containment by police:Journalists were the first to be allowed to leave the kettle.
to surround and contain (demonstrators) in an enclosed area:Most demonstrators were too distracted to notice they were being kettled.
Origin of kettle
1Words Nearby kettle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use kettle in a sentence
She trusts the open kettle or her version of it, which she refers to as the “heat sterilization fill” approach.
I found an old-school technique to conquer my jam fears. Then I tried to figure out if it’s safe. | Charlotte Druckman | August 26, 2021 | Washington PostImagine if you could power your kettle using the energy generated from the vegetable cuttings quietly breaking down in your kitchen’s compost bin.
We Could Power Our Homes With Food Scraps. Here’s What’s Stopping Us | Dr. Ananya Mukherjee | August 26, 2021 | Singularity HubCopper pendants seem to have been made from kettles and pots.
Centuries-old tools reveal how the Chikasha people fought off conquistadors | Sara Chodosh | July 12, 2021 | Popular-ScienceKelley-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.
The tactics police are using to prevent bystander video | Abby Ohlheiser | April 30, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewI used an electric kettle, but a stove-heated kettle or pot will work, too.
Getting cozy with a science experiment | Bethany Brookshire | April 13, 2021 | 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.
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.
Electric kettle Like many Americans who have spent time living in the UK, while I was there I fell in love with electric kettles.
I could hear Eliza downstairs, filling up another kettle for tea.
Daddy, How Come You’re Always Broke? Benjamin Anastas’s ‘Too Good to Be True’ | Benjamin Anastas | October 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTShe got an electric kettle and plugged it in, transferring a teapot of hot water into the tub.
Roulard had played the trumpet in the regimental band in which Aristide had played the kettle drum.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. LockeOne evening at tea, a copper kettle, with hot water, stood on the hob.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowMother would want some tea by and by, if she worked late into the evening, and Jess drew the kettle forward.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage | Gertrude W. MorrisonJess made a cushion for it out of grass and laid it on top of the kettle full of treasures.
The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler WarnerThe big kettle, empty and clean, was hung over the low fire and butter was dropped in.
The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler Warner
British Dictionary definitions for kettle
/ (ˈkɛtəl) /
a metal or plastic container with a handle and spout for boiling water
any of various metal containers for heating liquids, cooking fish, etc
a large metal vessel designed to withstand high temperatures, used in various industrial processes such as refining and brewing
British informal an enclosed space formed by a police cordon in order to contain people involved in a public demonstration
short for kettle hole
(tr) British informal (of a police force) to contain (people involved in a public demonstration) in an enclosed space
Origin of kettle
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for kettle
[ kĕt′l ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with kettle
In addition to the idiom beginning with kettle
- kettle of fish
also see:
- pot calling the kettle black
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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