stove

stove — noun

1. a device that produces warmth for a room or building by burning fuel such as woo

1.nounB1
Definition

a device that produces warmth for a room or building by burning fuel such as wood, coal, or gas, or by using electricity

Example

Lakshmi lit the wood-burning stove as soon as she arrived at the mountain cabin.

collocation: wood-burning stove

The iron stove in the classroom kept the children warm all winter.

Common collocations
  • light the stove
  • stoke the stove
  • wood-burning stove
  • potbelly stove
  • coal stove
Synonyms
  • heater

    a general term for any device that produces heat; less specific than 'stove', which implies burning fuel

  • furnace

    a larger system that heats an entire building through pipes or ducts, usually in a basement or utility room

  • radiator

    a part of a central heating system that radiates heat into a room; not a standalone burning unit like a stove

Usage Note

In North America, a heating stove is usually a standalone unit that heats a single room. A furnace, by contrast, is a larger system that heats an entire building through air ducts.

Common Mistakes

She turned up the stove when the room got cold' (as if adjusting central heating).
She lit the stove when the room got cold.
A heating stove is a physical device you light or load with fuel, not a thermostat-controlled temperature dial.

2. a kitchen appliance with an enclosed oven for baking or roasting and hot surface

2.nounB1
Definition

a kitchen appliance with an enclosed oven for baking or roasting and hot surfaces on top for boiling or frying food

Example

Renata set the pan on the stove and waited for the oil to heat.

collocation: on the stove

Haruto baked bread in the stove oven while soup simmered on the back burner.

contrast: inside vs on top

Common collocations
  • stove burner
  • stove top
  • on the stove
  • gas stove
  • electric stove
Synonyms
  • cooker

    the common British term for the same appliance; a learner studying British English should use 'cooker' for this sense

  • range

    a larger, more powerful stove often found in professional kitchens, usually with multiple ovens and six or more burners

  • oven

    only the enclosed baking compartment; not a full synonym for 'stove', which includes the cooktop

Usage Note

In British English, the cooking appliance described here is more commonly called a 'cooker'. 'Stove' in British English usually refers to the heating device in sense 1. In American English, 'stove' covers both senses and 'oven' refers only to the baking compartment.

Common Mistakes

I roasted the chicken in the stove' (when you mean the enclosed compartment).
I roasted the chicken in the oven.
The baking compartment of a stove is called the 'oven'; 'stove' refers to the whole appliance including the cooktop.

Word family

  • stovetop
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

Cooker is the standard British English term for the same cooking appliance — a UK learner would say 'cooker' rather than 'stove'. Range refers to a larger, more powerful stove with multiple ovens and six or more burners, typically found in restaurant kitchens or high-end home kitchens. Oven names only the enclosed baking compartment within a stove; you cannot say 'I boiled water on the oven.' In everyday American English, 'stove' often emphasises the cooktop (burners), while 'oven' is the baking compartment, though 'stove' can refer to the whole unit. For example: 'She baked a pie in the oven while simmering sauce on the stovetop.' 'The restaurant kitchen had a six-burner gas range.'

cooker ↗range ↗oven ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • gas stove
  • electric stove
  • wood-burning stove
  • stove top
  • stove burner

Prepositions

  • on the stove
  • by the stove

Etymology

Middle DutchMiddle Low GermanEnglish

The word 'stove' comes from Middle Dutch 'stove' and Middle Low German 'stove', which meant a heated room or a steam bath. It is related to 'stew' — both words trace back to a shared root meaning 'to heat with steam or hot water.' In the 1500s, 'stove' referred to a heated chamber used for bathing or drying. By the 1600s, it shifted to mean the heating apparatus itself, and later expanded to include kitchen cooking equipment.