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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

grill.

A grating; a grid of wire or a sheet of material with a pattern of holes or slots, usually used to protect something while allowing the passage of air and liquids. Typical uses: to allow air through a fan while preventing fingers or objects from passing; to allow people to talk to somebody, while preventing attack.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɡɹɪl/
  1. A grating; a grid of wire or a sheet of material with a pattern of holes or slots, usually used to protect something while allowing the passage of air and liquids. Typical uses: to allow air through a fan while preventing fingers or objects from passing; to allow people to talk to somebody, while preventing attack.

  2. The criss-cross pieces that separate panes of glass in a window.

  3. On a vehicle, a slotted cover as above, to protect and hide the radiator, while admitting air to cool it.

  4. A cooking device comprising a source of radiative heat and a means of holding food under it; a broiler in US English

    UK
  5. A cooking device comprising a source of radiative and convective heat and a means of holding food above it; a barbecue.

    US
    I put some peppers and mushrooms on the grill to go with dinner.
  6. Food (designed to be) cooked on a grill.

    a packet of frozen cauliflower cheese grills
  7. A grillroom; a restaurant serving grilled food.

    These coupons will get you a discount at Johnny's Bar and Grill.
  8. A type of jewelry worn on the front teeth.

    colloquial
  9. The front teeth regarded collectively.

    broadly · colloquial
  10. Deliberate misspelling of girl.

    Internet · alt-of · deliberate · humorous · misspelling
    r u a grill?
Where this word comes from

1655, from French gril, from Middle French gril, from Old French greïl, graïl (“gridiron”), from graïlle (“grate, grating”), from Latin crātīcula (“gridiron”), diminutive of crātis (“hurdle, wickerwork”), q.v. Related to griddle, hurdle.

verb/ɡɹɪl/
  1. To cook (food) on a grill; to barbecue.

    transitive
    Why don't we get together Saturday and grill some burgers?
  2. To cook food under the element of a stove or only under the top element of an oven – (US) broil, (cooking) salamander.

    Australia · New-Zealand · UK · transitive
  3. To interrogate; to question aggressively or harshly.

    colloquial · transitive
    The police grilled him about his movements at the time of the crime.
  4. To feel very hot; to swelter.

    informal · intransitive
  5. To stamp or mark with a grill.

    transitive
  6. To stare at.

    New-York-City
Where this word comes from

1655, from French gril, from Middle French gril, from Old French greïl, graïl (“gridiron”), from graïlle (“grate, grating”), from Latin crātīcula (“gridiron”), diminutive of crātis (“hurdle, wickerwork”), q.v. Related to griddle, hurdle.

verb/ɡɹɪl/
  1. To make angry; provoke; offend, incite.

    Scotland · US · obsolete · transitive
  2. To terrify; make tremble.

    Scotland · obsolete · transitive
  3. To tremble; shiver.

    Scotland · intransitive · obsolete
  4. To snarl; snap.

    Northern-England · Scotland · intransitive · obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English grillen (“to anger, provoke”), from Old English grillan, griellan (“to annoy, vex, offend”), from Proto-West Germanic *gralljan (“to shout, make angry”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian grulje (“to make angry”), Dutch grillen (“to shudder, shiver”), Low German vergrellen (“to anger, provoke”), German grollen (“to rumble”) and perhaps also with French grouiller (“to swarm”).

adj/ɡɹɪl/
  1. Harsh, rough, severe; cruel.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English gril, grille (“harsh, rough, severe”), from Old English *grielle, from Proto-West Germanic *grallī (“angry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rattle, make a noise, grumble”). Cognate with German grell (“harsh, angry”), Danish grel (“shrill, glaring, dazzling”).

noun/ɡɹɪl/
  1. Harm.

    obsolete · uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

From Middle English grille, from Old English *grylla, *griella, from Proto-West Germanic *gralljō.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.