oven

oven — noun

1. the closed space inside a cooker or separate machine where food is baked, roaste

1.nounB1
Definition

the closed space inside a cooker or separate machine where food is baked, roasted, or heated.

Example

Please leave the bread in the oven for ten minutes.

collocation: in the oven

Maya put the apples in the oven to soften them.

pattern: put something in the oven

Common collocations
  • preheat the oven
  • put something in the oven
  • take something out of the oven
  • oven door
  • oven tray
Synonyms
  • stove

    especially in American English, this can mean the whole cooking appliance, not only the enclosed heating space

  • cooker

    mainly British and broader, because it often names the whole appliance with burners and an oven

  • range

    usually a full kitchen appliance with both a cooktop and an oven

Grammar Patterns

in the oven

put something in the oven

take something out of the oven

Usage Note

Usually countable. Often used in the phrases 'in the oven' and 'out of the oven', and with verbs such as 'put', 'leave', 'heat', and 'preheat'. Distinguish from 'stove' or 'cooker', which can name the whole appliance rather than just this enclosed part.

Common Mistakes

I cooked the cake on the oven.
I cooked the cake in the oven.
use 'in' because the food goes inside the oven.
Please put the tray on the oven at 180 degrees.
Please put the tray in the oven at 180 degrees.
when the tray goes into the heated space, use 'in', not 'on'.
Idioms

have a bun in the oven

idiom

This idiom means that a woman is going to have a baby.

Maya told her sister she has a bun in the oven.

Did you hear that Sara has a bun in the oven?

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Oven' names the enclosed heated part used for baking, roasting, or warming food. 'Stove' often means the whole appliance in American English, and in some contexts it can also focus on the top burners rather than the baking space below. 'Cooker' is common in British English and usually refers to the whole unit, not just the oven section. 'Range' often suggests a larger kitchen appliance with both a cooktop and an oven, sometimes in a more specific household or sales context. So you put a cake in the oven, cook dinner on the stove, buy a new cooker for the flat, or compare gas and electric ranges in a shop.

oven ↗stove ↗cooker ↗range ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • oven door
  • oven tray
  • oven shelf
  • oven light
  • oven temperature

Phrases

  • preheat the oven
  • put something in the oven
  • take something out of the oven
  • cook something in the oven

Prepositions

  • in the oven
  • out of the oven

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

The word comes from Old English 'ofen', which was inherited from an older Germanic word for a heated baking chamber. Related forms are still found in other Germanic languages, such as German 'Ofen'. The core meaning has stayed very stable in English: an enclosed hot space used for cooking or heating.