skillet
Americannoun
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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
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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Orbiting Jupiter
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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.
Recently, I stirred a packet into an “odds and ends” vegetable skillet assembled from whatever happened to be lingering in the refrigerator.
From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026
A spoonful can deepen a pot of lentils, enrich a mushroom skillet or give a weeknight stir-fry the impression that someone spent considerably more time thinking about it than they actually did.
From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026
Chicken thighs become skillet chili topped with avocado and lime.
From Salon • May 22, 2026
But for deeper flavor, transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, until bubbling around the edges and slightly thickened.
From Salon • May 19, 2026
Dad scraped the carrots and onions into the skillet.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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.
