grille

grille — noun

1. a covering made from thin metal strips or wires that is fitted across building o

1.nounB1
Definition

a covering made from thin metal strips or wires that is fitted across building openings — like windows, doors, or vents — to allow air or sound through while keeping larger objects or people out. Many shop fronts, for example, have a grille that the owner pulls down after closing time.

Example

The shop owner pulled down the metal grille over the door after closing time.

Action: pull down a grille

Gabriel could hear the rain through the grille on his bedroom window.

Collocation: hear through a grille

Common collocations
  • metal grille
  • iron grille
  • window grille
  • security grille
  • pull down a grille
  • behind a grille
  • through the grille
  • grille of the window
Synonyms
  • grate

    similar overlapping structure, but 'grate' usually refers to a heavy parallel-bar cover set into a floor or ground surface, while 'grille' is more often vertical or on a wall

  • grating

    can be used interchangeably with 'grille' in many contexts, but 'grating' can also suggest a coarser, more industrial grid

  • screen

    a broader term that includes any mesh, netting, or perforated covering; 'grille' is more specific to metal bars or wire

Grammar Patterns

[article] + grille

grille + of + [noun]

[noun] + grille

through/behind + [article] + grille

Usage Note

Often fitted on the outside of buildings, especially shops and older houses, as a security measure. A grille can be fixed in place or designed to slide or roll down over an opening.

Common Mistakes

The cafe has a beautiful old grill on its front window.
The cafe has a beautiful old grille on its front window.
'Grill' (one L) is the cooking device; 'grille' (two Ls) is the protective metal screen.

Word family

  • grillwork
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Grate, grating, screen, lattice, and grille all describe structures that cover openings while allowing things to pass through. A grate is typically heavy iron bars set into a floor or road surface, like a drain cover — you walk on it. A grating is similar but often larger and more industrial, such as the metal floor in a factory walkway. A screen is the most general term, covering anything from a mesh window covering to a privacy divider; it filters light, air, or visibility rather than blocking entry. A lattice is a decorative criss-cross pattern of wood or metal, used on garden trellises or porch railings — its main purpose is ornamental, not security. A grille, by contrast, is a security-focused barrier of parallel or grid-shaped metal strips fixed across a window, door, or vent to keep people or large objects out while letting sound or air pass. For example, a bank might have a steel grille over its service counter, whereas a garden would have a wooden lattice for climbing plants.

grate ↗gratingscreen ↗lattice

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • grille of the [noun]
  • [noun] + grille
  • pull down the grille
  • fixed grille
  • sliding grille

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'grille' was borrowed from French in the 1600s, where it meant 'gridiron' or 'grating'. French inherited it from Latin 'craticula', meaning 'small gridiron', which itself came from 'cratis' ('wickerwork' or 'hurdle'). Over time, the meaning shifted from a cooking grid to any metal barrier made of crossed or parallel bars, especially one used to protect a building opening.