释义 |
ket·tle \ˈke]d.əl, ]təl, ÷ ˈki]; some who have |ki] in “teakettle”and/or “kettle of fish” have |ke] in other contexts\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English ketel, from Old Norse ketill; akin to Old English cietel kettle, Old High German kezzil, Gothic katilē (gen. plural); all from a prehistoric Germanic word borrowed from Latin catillus small bowl, dish, diminutive of catinus bowl, pot; perhaps akin to Greek kotylē cup, small vessel 1. a. (1) : a metallic vessel in which liquids or semifluid masses are boiled; especially : teakettle (2) : a cooking utensil with a bail handle b. : a quantity cooked in a kettle at one time < could eat a whole kettle of stew > 2. a. obsolete : kettledrum 1 < let the kettle to the trumpet speak — Shakespeare > b. : the metallic bowl of a kettledrum across which the parchment head is stretched 3. a. : pothole b. : a steep-sided hollow without surface drainage especially in a deposit of glacial drift and often containing a lake or swamp 4. North : a shallow metal pail < dinner kettle > |