Sterno

¹ American  

[stur-noh] / ˈstɜr noʊ /

Trademark.

1. flammable hydrocarbon jelly packaged in a small can for use as a portable heat source for cooking.

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sterno- ² American  

1. a combining form representing sternum in compound words.

   sternocostal.

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Example Sentences

She also instantly knows that the mother who burnt her hand on a Sterno is unhoused.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 5, 2025

Compass, a publicly traded partnership, owns such diverse companies as the Sterno Group, producer of the canned fuel, and 5.11, a maker of clothing and gear for law enforcement and for the outdoors.

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2021

“So I did this,” he said, showcasing his clever, MacGyver-style street kitchen of aluminum foil tents, tables, Sterno and pans.

From Washington Post • Dec. 24, 2020

They inhabited only three of the house’s twenty-eight rooms, and whatever they had for dinner seems to have been cooked over a can of Sterno, on Big Edie’s nightstand.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 8, 2014

She brought along a Sterno cooking outfit and two suitcases of food, mostly cereals and graham crackers.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey