stove

1 of 2

noun

ˈstōv 

1

a

: a portable or fixed apparatus that burns fuel or uses electricity to provide heat (as for cooking or heating)

b

: a device that generates heat for special purposes (as for heating tools or heating air for a hot blast)

c

: kiln

2

chiefly British : a hothouse especially for the cultivation of tropical exotics

broadly : greenhouse

stove

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of stave

Examples of stove in a Sentence

Noun

She put the pan on the stove over medium heat.

I cooked the burgers on the stove.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The room also had a small sink fed by a five-gallon jug of water suspended above it, a two-burner camp stove, some shelving for clothes and books, and a car battery hooked up to a small solar panel outside. —Michael Pollan, The Atlantic, 26 Jan. 2026

Most home cooks aren’t lucky enough to have such a splendid oven, so the directions here call for sautéing them in a skillet on top of the stove. —Cathy Thomas, Oc Register, 26 Jan. 2026

Up front, the kitchen block just aft of the driver's seat includes a dual-burner gas stove and sink integrated into the counter and a compressor fridge next to the drawers below. —New Atlas, 25 Jan. 2026

Never use a generator, grill, camp stove, gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-burning devices inside the home, and keep them away from doors, windows and vents that let air inside. —Jonathan Limehouse, USA Today, 24 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English (Scots), heated room, steam bath, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, from Vulgar Latin *extufa, ultimately from Latin ex- + Greek typhein to smoke — more at deaf entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1618, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing stove

• Franklin stove
• pellet stove
• potbellied stove
• slave over a hot stove
• stove top

Rhymes for stove

• clove
• cove
• drove
• rove
• shrove
• strove
• throve
• trove
• wove
• alcove
• mangrove

Kids Definition

stove

1 of 2 noun

ˈstōv 

1

: an appliance that burns fuel or uses electricity to provide heat (as for cooking or heating)

2

: kiln

stove

2 of 2

past and past participle of stave entry 2