kitchen
Americannoun
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kitchens
plural
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a room or place equipped for cooking.
The apartment has a full kitchen with an oven and dishwasher.
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the staff involved in food preparation in a restaurant or eatery.
He called the kitchen to make sure they could accommodate his allergies.
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culinary department; cuisine.
This restaurant has a fine Italian kitchen.
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the equipment and fixtures needed to make a room suitable for cooking.
We bought a kitchen, but it still needs to be installed.
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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.
adjective
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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.
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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.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Miraculously, although the house was covered with glass and debris, the part of the kitchen around the sink was intact; even the glass on the cabinets hadn’t broken.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The chef’s kitchen is anchored by a large granite island and boasts a large amount of counter space, plenty of cabinetry, and state-of-the-art appliances.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Sinden said some parents had told her they were making their own baby wipes with kitchen towels.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Their vision: a test kitchen of sorts that models how farming can, and should, be done.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
“I’m filling in a shift, but no reason to go into a hot kitchen before I have to. Thanks.”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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
With robots, each of Wonder’s kitchens will be able to produce three times as many orders with the same number of human workers, he said.
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
When he’s not doing chores down in the temple’s kitchens, I know that sometimes he sneaks into the library.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
