1. A container for boiling water, with a lid, spout and handle
   "I'll put the kettle on to make some tea"
    
2. A metal pot for stewing or boiling; usually has a lid
   "She put the kettle on for tea";
   - boiler
    
3. The quantity a kettle will hold
   "She boiled a kettle of water for tea";
   - kettleful
    
4. A large hemispherical brass or copper percussion instrument with a drumhead that can be tuned by adjusting the tension on it
   "The orchestra's timpanist skilfully played the kettles during the symphony";
   - kettledrum, tympanum [archaic], tympani, timpani
    
5. (geology) a hollow (typically filled by a lake) that results from the melting of a mass of ice trapped in glacial deposits
   "The landscape was dotted with kettle holes, remnants of the last ice age";
   - kettle hole
    
6. A pit or hole produced by wear or weathering (especially in a road surface)
   "The car's suspension was damaged by a deep kettle in the road";
   - pothole, chuckhole [US]

1. Use police to contain demonstrators in a small area
   "The protesters were kettled by police for several hours during the demonstration"

Derived forms: kettled, kettling, kettles

Type of: containerful, hole, hollow, percussion instrument, percussive instrument, pot

Encyclopedia: Kettle, Michael