Basic+ Word of the Day: stove

stove (noun)

A stove is an appliance that provides heat for cooking.

• The water for tea is boiling on the stove.
• Jenny cooked the meat on the stove instead of cooking it on the oven.
• Do you prefer a gas stove or an electric stove?

Don't confuse it with

Back in the old days, a stove was one large appliance that had either gas or electric burners on the top and an oven underneath. Now, you can buy a separate stovetop and oven. The stovetop is a surface with a heat element where you boil water and fry eggs. The oven is an enclosed compartment where you bake cakes and pies, roast vegetables and meat.

Common uses

slave over a hot stove: to spend a lot of time and effort cooking. Example: “While you watched the football game, I was slaving over a hot stove all day!”

In pop culture

Listen to this “sad” song dedicated to an old stove. For the lyrics, click here.

There are other meanings of stove.