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kettle

 - 7 dictionary results

ket⋅tle

[ket-l]
–noun
1. a metal container in which to boil liquids, cook foods, etc.; pot.
2. a teakettle.
3. a kettledrum.
4. Geology. kettle hole.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME ketel < ON ketill ≪ L catillus, dim. of catīnus pot; r. OE cetel, cietel ≪ L as above; cf. G Kessel

kettle hole

–noun Geology.
1. a deep, kettle-shaped depression in glacial drift.
2. pothole (def. 3).
Also called kettle.


Origin:
1880–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ket·tle   (kět'l)   
n.  
  1. A metal pot, usually with a lid, for boiling or stewing.

  2. A teakettle.

  3. Music A kettledrum.

  4. Geology A depression left in a mass of glacial drift, formed by the melting of an isolated block of glacial ice.

  5. A pothole.


[Middle English ketel, from Old Norse ketill and Old English cetel, both from Latin catīllus, diminutive of catīnus, large bowl.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

kettle 
O.E. cetil (Mercian), from L. catillus "deep pan or dish for cooking," dim. of catinus "bowl, dish, pot." A general Gmc. borrowing (cf. O.S. ketel, O.Fris. zetel, M.Du. ketel, O.H.G. kezzil, Ger. Kessel). Spelling with a -k- (c.1300) probably is from infl. of O.N. cognate ketill. The smaller sense of "tea-kettle" is 20c. Kettledrum is from 1542.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Kettle

a large pot for cooking. The same Hebrew word (dud, "boiling") is rendered also "pot" (Ps. 81:6), "caldron" (2 Chr. 35:13), "basket" (Jer. 24:2). It was used for preparing the peace-offerings (1 Sam. 2:13, 14).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

kettle

In addition to the idiom beginning with kettle, also see pot calling the kettle black.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia

kettle

in geology, depression in a glacial outwash drift made by the melting of a detached mass of glacial ice that became wholly or partly buried. The occurrence of these stranded ice masses is thought to be the result of gradual accumulation of outwash atop the irregular glacier terminus. Kettles may range in size from 5 m (15 feet) to 13 km (8 miles) in diameter and up to 45 m in depth. When filled with water they are called kettle lakes. Most kettles are circular in shape because melting blocks of ice tend to become rounded; distorted or branching depressions may result from extremely irregular ice masses

Learn more about kettle with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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