kitchen

American  

[kich-uhn] / ˈkɪtʃ ən /

noun

1. a room or place equipped for cooking.

   The apartment has a full kitchen with an oven and dishwasher.

2. the staff involved in food preparation in a restaurant or eatery.

   He called the kitchen to make sure they could accommodate his allergies.

3. culinary department; cuisine.

   This restaurant has a fine Italian kitchen.

4. the equipment and fixtures needed to make a room suitable for cooking.

   We bought a kitchen, but it still needs to be installed.

5. Sports. (on a pickleball court) a seven-foot zone on either side of the net from which players are prohibited from returning the ball before it hits the ground.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or designed for use in a room equipped for cooking.

   There's a view of the yard from the kitchen window.

   We got a new, more colorful set of kitchen curtains.

2. employed in or assigned to a place or business that makes food.

   Kitchen staff and volunteers worked together to feed over 500 food-insecure people.

kitchen British  

/ ˈkɪtʃɪn /

noun

1. 1. a room or part of a building equipped for preparing and cooking food

   2. ( as modifier )

      a kitchen table

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kitchen Idioms  

1. see everything but the kitchen sink; if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

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Other Word Forms

• kitchenless adjective
• kitcheny adjective
• outkitchen noun

Etymology

Origin of kitchen

First recorded before 1000; Middle English kichene, Old English cycene ≪ Latin coquīna, equivalent to coqu(ere) “to cook” + -īna -ine ¹; cuisine

Example Sentences

Willy might as well be delivering newspapers or mopping the kitchen floor, so disconnected are his gestures.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

The dwelling sits on a 1.4-acre parcel that is home to a glittering swimming pool and spa, an enormous patio, an outdoor kitchen, and a fire pit area.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

Every dinner service that I’m in the kitchen, I’m trying to impart whatever knowledge I have.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

It is spoken in hospital corridors and courtrooms, in waiting rooms and at kitchen tables, by those who keep pressing, keep trying, keep hoping.

From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026

I was standing on a chair washing the big window in the dining room, waving now and then to passersby in the alley, while in the kitchen Mama peeled potatoes for lunch.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Related Words

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