skillet
Americannoun
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skillets
plural
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a frying pan.
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a cylindrical serving vessel of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, having a hinged lid, a handle, and, sometimes, feet.
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Chiefly British. a long-handled saucepan.
noun
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a small frying pan
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a saucepan
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of skillet
1375–1425; late Middle English; origin uncertain
Explanation
A skillet is a round pan that you use to cook things on the stove. Use your skillet to cook bacon and eggs, NOT as a weapon. You can also call a skillet a "frying pan," and in many parts of the English-speaking world, that's what they do. Skillets are primarily used for frying food, but you can also sauté, sear, brown, or scramble in a skillet. In Britain, a skillet is an old-fashioned type of cooking pot with legs. Experts think the word comes from the Middle French esculette, "a little dish," from the Latin root scutella, "serving platter."
Vocabulary lists containing skillet
Pestle, Sieve, and Whisk: Useful Words for Cooking Tools
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Shiloh
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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:
I did the same: three dishes for lunch on my own, a whole fried fish in a sweet-tart sauce, braised pork in a clay pot, and tofu in a sizzling skillet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
On one night, I’d empty a pack into a hot skillet, let the sausage crisp at the edges and spoon everything over spiced rice with a fried egg and a mess of fresh herbs.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
Marlene Cooper has paid $100 a week to get a box of five meals from Blue Apron for the last decade, delighting in dinners like chicken enchilada skillet and cilantro paneer and chickpea curry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Roll it out cinnamon-roll style, spread with cream cheese, Parmesan, herbs and hot giardiniera, then coil, slice and nestle the spirals together in a buttered skillet.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Vola set the skillet in the sink and came back to sit across from him at the table.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
Adjoining stores sold cast iron skillets, toys and old-fashioned candies, with rocking chairs out front for waiting customers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025
She scrubs all manner of kitchenware: trays, pans, cooking sheets, plates, skillets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2025
Rohrmoser also used to make horseshoes in the past, but the demand for his skillets has been so strong that he only focuses on them now.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 26, 2023
It seemed like a really cozy ritual, one I was thinking about recently after I stumbled upon a few 3.5-inch Lodge cast iron skillets at a resale store.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2022
More vegetables were chopped, skillets started sizzling, delicious aromas swirled together, and before long a magnificent meal was set on the dinner table.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
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.
