See Also: kettle(dictionary)
kettle(dictionary)
kettle-stitch(dictionary)
fish kettle(dictionary)

kettle (iou)



kettle noun.

I.
A vessel, usu. of metal, for boiling water or other liquids; spec. (a) a covered vessel with a spout and handle, used to boil water for domestic purposes (also tea-kettle); (b) (in full fish-kettle) a long usu. oval pan for cooking fish in liquid. Also, a kettle and its contents; the contents of a kettle; as much as a kettle will hold, a kettleful. OE.
electric kettle, jug kettle, maslin kettle, whistling kettle, etc. kettle of fish (a) Scot. dial. = sense 2 above; (b) a state of affairs: in a pretty kettle of fish, a fine kettle of fish, a nice kettle of fish, etc., a mess, an awkward state of affairs; a different kettle of fish, another kettle of fish, a different state of affairs or matter altogether.
L. Cody She put the kettle on for tea.
A picnic or excursion at which fish is cooked out of doors. Scot. dial. L17.
A bowl- or saucer-shaped vessel in which operations are carried out on low-melting metals, glass, plastics, etc., in the liquid state. E19.
A deep circular hollow scoured out in a rocky river-bed, under a glacier, etc.; a pothole. Also (Physical Geography) = kettle hole below. M19.
A watch. slang (chiefly Criminals'). M19.
II.
= KETTLEDRUM. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.
Comb.: kettle-bottom (a) a hill with broad flat top and sloping sides; (b) Nautical a ship with a flat floor; kettle-holder a piece of cloth etc. used to protect the hand from the heat of a kettle-handle; kettle hole Physical Geography a deep, often circular depression in the ground formed by the melting of an ice block trapped in glacial deposits; kettle lake Physical Geography a lake in a kettle hole; kettle moraine Physical Geography a moraine in which there are numerous kettle holes.
kettleful noun as much as a kettle will hold M19.
kettler noun (a) a person who mends kettles; (b) a colour-mixer's assistant who boils dyestuffs: E17.