kettle

noun

ket·tle | \ ˈke-tᵊl

Definition of kettle

1 : a metallic vessel usually used for boiling liquids especially : teakettle

2 : kettledrum

3a : pothole sense 1b

b : a steep-sided hollow without surface drainage especially in a deposit of glacial drift

4 : a usually large group of raptors (such as hawks or vultures) circling high in the sky on an updraft of warm air … more than 500 birds have been seen riding the same spiraling thermal air current, or "kettle," as they are known to hawk-watchers.— Rick Steelhammer

Examples of kettle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Help your recipient really get into hygge this winter with a pink electric kettle, just waiting to be used for steaming cup of tea. — Michaela Bechler, Vogue, "18 Pink Home Items to Gift This Valentine’s Day," 7 Feb. 2019 Try the Parnell segment for an especially hilly hike along glacial features including moraines, kettles, eskers and drumlins. — Chelsey Lewis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Wisconsin bucket list: 20 things you have to do," 17 May 2018 To grill the chicken Prepare a fire in a kettle grill, such as a Weber. — Penelope Green, House Beautiful, "The Simple, Fresh Grilled Chicken You'll Make All Summer Long," 1 July 2014 With resourcefulness that would put MacGyver to shame, a pregnant Tennessee woman used YouTube, an electric kettle, a pocketknife and shoelaces to deliver her own son in a foreign hotel room. — Michelle Ewing, ajc, "Tennessee mom delivers own baby in Istanbul hotel room using YouTube, pocketknife, shoelaces," 1 May 2018 Here, Thiago Passos shows model Solange Wilvert the five best moves supermodels use to stay toned, all using the kettle bell. — Harper's Bazaar Staff, Harper's BAZAAR, "5 Kettle Bell Moves Supermodels Swear By," 3 Aug. 2016 Other products made at the plant include PVC resins, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, oxygen, chlorine, dissolved acetylene, coated kettle agent, water treatment chemicals and new building materials, according to the company website. — Christopher Bodeen, The Seattle Times, "22 dead in blast outside northern China chemical plant," 28 Nov. 2018 Notoriously witty Selahattin Demirtas, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party candidate running a campaign from prison, joked that a problem with a kettle inmates were using to make tea made him late to the #tamam party. — Lisel Hintz, Washington Post, "How a hashtag and memes are uniting Turkey’s opposition," 11 May 2018 The pastrami is cured and smoked in-house, bagels are kettle-boiled and hand-rolled, and all breads are house-made next door. — Jennifer Bradley Franklin, Condé Nast Traveler, "10 Best Brunch Places in Atlanta," 21 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kettle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.