kitchen

American  

[kich-uhn] / ˈkɪtʃ ən /

noun

• kitchens
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• outkitchen
  noun
• kitchenless
  adjective
• kitcheny
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• kitchens
  plural

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; cf. cuisine

Explanation

People always hang out in the kitchen at a party because a kitchen is where the food is. Restaurants have kitchens too, but only the kitchen staff hangs out in there. A kitchen is a room that’s meant for cooking. Whether you're making a four-course meal or microwave popcorn, the kitchen is where the magic happens. Schools, hospitals, and restaurants have kitchens. The word kitchen can also be used as an adjective. Guess where the kitchen cabinets are? If someone says you’ve packed everything but the kitchen sink, your suitcase is overflowing. And you should totally go back and get that sink. The Old English root of kitchen is from the Vulgar Latin cocina, rooted in coquere, "cook."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kitchen kitchens

“What did I get myself into?” he asked, finding kitchen equipment, furniture, clothes, bottles, a family picture, and wooden planks with nails pointing upward coating the floor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

“Tanya came through from the kitchen with another tray of small things on sticks–olives, chunks of pineapple. Our eyes met. ‘I’m going through a ‘70s thing,’ she said.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

"We usually say it's hotter in the kitchen than outside - but today it's hotter outside. The heat in the kitchen is unbearable, it is 36C in there," she told the BBC.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Bourdain gave fellow outsiders an insider’s view of the kitchen.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Nollie came out of the kitchen, her round pretty face flushed with baking.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

He is an amalgamation of several people the real Bourdain encountered in kitchens with an added layer of soulfulness that Banderas fully embodies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Cornell University has clarified that its dorm kitchens are for cooking food — not butchering bears.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

It also has another initiative that can put the robot-assisted kitchens to good use: Wonder Create, a program that will allow anyone to create their own restaurant, as Lore puts it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

"It is not little kitchens and pots boiling away, mimsy little things being placed on plates. He is cooking with fire... he stands there in his leather apron and it's roaring like fireworks," Coren said.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

He doesn’t say another word as he leaves me in the kitchens, alone.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

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