Grill

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ɡɹɪl/

Definitions

1. A cooking device with parallel metal bars used to cook food over direct heat, typically outdoors
2. A cooking apparatus designed with slatted bars for placing food directly above a heat source, which can also refer to the act of cooking in such a manner
3. A flat framework of metal bars used for cooking food by placing it over a heat source ; to prepare food by exposing it to hot direct heat on such a surface ; to interrogate someone thoroughly and repeatedly

Etymology: The cooking "grill" is a doublet of "grate," "grid," "griddle," and "gridiron," all descended from Latin "crātīcula," a little wickerwork hurdle. The word reached English in 1655 by way of French "gril," which had passed through Old French "greïl" and "graïlle," meaning a grate or grating. Its ancestor "crātis" meant wickerwork or a hurdle, so the grid of bars that holds food over a fire carries the same basic idea as a woven fence. English also has a separate, older "grill" with a very different life. Middle English "grillen" meant "to anger or provoke," inherited from Old English "grillan" and "griellan," meaning "to annoy, vex, or offend." Its relatives in German and Dutch still carry the sense of grumbling, rumbling, or shivering, and a related adjective meant harsh, severe, or angry. Nothing in that family connects it to cooking; the cooking word simply shares the spelling by accident.

Synonyms: barbecue, broil, cook, sear, brown

Antonyms: boil, steam