thermos
noun
a vacuum bottle or similar container lined with an insulating material, such as polystyrene, to keep liquids hot or cold.
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thermos
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Thermos
Thermosnouna type of stoppered vacuum flask used to preserve the temperature of its contents See also Dewar flask
thermos
American
[thur-muhs]
/ ˈθɜr məs /
noun
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thermoses
plural
Thermos
British
/ ˈθɜːməs /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of thermos
First recorded in 1905–10; formerly a trademark
Explanation
A thermos is a portable container that keeps liquids hot or cold for a long time. When you go ice skating, you may want to bring along a thermos of hot chocolate. Officially, the word Thermos is spelled with a capital T, since like Band-Aid and Kleenex, it's actually a trademarked brand name. Still, it's common to refer to vacuum flasks (even those not made by the Thermos company) generally as thermoses. The very first thermos was made in 1892, and they were produced commercially starting in 1904. In Greek, the word thermos means "hot."
Vocabulary lists containing thermos
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:
She got a yellow thermos like the one in the film, which, miraculously, never seems to run out of java, even when the coffee pot is busted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
“It brings back memories of hunkering down behind an old cottonwood drift log…drinking black coffee from a Stanley thermos and waiting for mallards to whistle by,” he mused on Facebook, where he does his campaigning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The base fits in cupholders; the handle makes it easier to sip from a heavy thermos while multitasking.
From Slate ● Jan. 18, 2024
While its internet popularity may be fairly recent, Stanley has long been known for its green thermos.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
Rose let out a scream and raised her thermos higher above her head.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
“If you have not prepared, you don’t have time to fill the Thermos, and there’s no warm water or formula,” she said.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2022
I had two coffees in a Thermos in the car.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2019
But like self-absorbed restaurant owners everywhere, I push for more, hungry for feedback about the roll I selected for the brisket sandwich or the artful saucing of the pasta in her Thermos.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2019
A group of us camped outside the night before – it was so cold; in hindsight we should have taken a Thermos and some sandwiches – because it was a big adventure.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 13, 2019
The door opened, and another Tlingit woman brought in a Thermos of hot soup and set it next to the bed.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
If we’re dealing in clichés, these thermoses belong in the lunchbox of a guy taking a break from the assembly line or in the hands of a construction worker.
From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2024
They collected blaze-yellow protective gear from lockers in the back, donned hard hats and tugged at thermoses of coffee and cans of Rockstar — readying for another long and grueling day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2023
It was a cool fall morning and families sat on blankets or newspapers in the grass, passing around thermoses of tea.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2022
There were middle class families with thermoses of water, pensioners in undershirts and students holding yellow umbrellas symbolizing the protest movement.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2022
Below, on the overcrowded sidewalks, more than two and a half million people, armed with beach chairs, picnic baskets, and thermoses, solemnly watched hundreds of floats pass by.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
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.
